Konoha's Mothers' Program
by Blackfan Diamond
Summary: In order to make women in Konoha better prepared to become mothers in the future, Shizune and the Hokage decided to create a Program that would make them take care of baby dolls that behaved exactly like real babies. Everything seemed fine, except that the person who would have to run the first test would be a certain pink-haired kunoichi.
1. Prologue

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 **KONOHA'S MOTHERS' PROGRAM**

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PROLOGUE

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''Aww!'' Shizune turned around to find Sakura melting as she stared at the incubators in the neonatal intensive care unit. There weren't many babies in the room that day, Shizune could think of only two. Well, three, actually.

Sakura spotted her friend with the corner of her eyes and quickly grabbed her arm and brought her closer to the window so they could watch the babies together:

''Aren't they suuuuper cute and adorable? My God, I just wanna bite them all, so cute they are!'' she gritted her teeth in excitement, her whole body shaking with the idea of getting inside the room and hugging the babies _very tightly!_

Shizune watched her for a moment before releasing a short laugh.

''Would you like to go have a closer look?'' she suggested, and Sakura quickly turned her head to the black-haired doctor with sparkling eyes, rushing inside the unit in a second. Sakura spent long minutes watching each of the two babies on one side of the room, but the last one somehow intrigued her more than the others.

''Whose son is this?'' she inquired, her eyebrows furrowed ''this baby looks perfectly fine to me, why is he in the ICU?''

When Sakura turned to look at Shizune, she found the other woman trying her best to conceal a smile, even though it was quite obvious by her face that she was having a lot of fun with all that situation - why, though, Sakura had no idea.

''What?'' she asked.

''Why don't you take the baby in your arms?'' she suggested, crossing her arms and pointing to the young boy with her head.

Sakura found all that situation quite weird, but decided against questioning her. She found the baby quite healthy, just like all babies should be. Very cute too.

''It's a very cute and healthy baby, the way I see it'' she said aloud when she realized Shizune was waiting for her to say something ''what is he called?''

''Experiment 542'' the medic replied, giving her a small smile.

Sakura looked at her friend in astonishment.

''What do you mean?'' she inquired

''That this baby is an experiment, it's not a real baby''

Sakura's eyes widened in shock and she looked back at the baby in her arms. It looked _exactly_ like a normal baby.

''How is this possible?''

Shizune turned around and started to walk towards a room in another area of the hospital. Sakura followed her with quick steps, holding the baby with extra care, as if it could explode at any second. They stopped in front of a very secure door and Shizune instructed that they changed their clothes to sterile scrubs before going inside.

What they saw in the room made Sakura's jaw drop.

There were many scientists working with potions and other chemical substances, some modulating chakra and concentrating them in small stones in the shape of hearts. There were parts of babies bodies, like dolls, in some parts, and people were carefully tending to each part separately with extreme care.

''Oh my God what kind of macabre activity are you all performing here?!'' she shouted, her eyes widened in horror.

Shizune rolled her eyes.

''Don't be so loud, Sakura, there's nothing macabre here.''

''But the babies!'' she retorted, evidently horrified with all that was going on.

''This is the Konoha's Mothers' Program, KMP'' Shizune explained, heading to a small bench on one side of the laboratory and sitting down, asking Sakura to do the same ''working at the hospital too, you must have realized how unprepared mothers in Konoha have shown themselves to be. Every day, mothers come to the hospital because their babies are unwell, and in at least 80% of the cases the accident is completely avoidable! Not only that, but we're facing a major problem in the fire country: women are just not getting pregnant! Especially when it comes to kunoichi.'' Shizune let out a long sigh ''kunoichi not only normally don't have children, but also when they do they show themselves to be terrible mothers, totally incapable of taking care of babies''

''That's ridiculous!'' Sakura retorted, finding all of that completely preposterous ''I'm completely capable of taking care of children, they love me!''

Shizune raised an eyebrow and pointed to the baby in her arms, the head hanging from her lap as she held it only by the left arm. Had it been a real baby, Shizune thought to herself, it would totally be dead by now in Sakura's care. Good thing that baby wasn't activated yet.

Sakura noticed the baby's awkward position and quickly pulled it back to her lap, patting it on the head as if saying sorry. The baby's neck was in a position that told Sakura it probably broke its neck, but she pretended not to have noticed it.

''As I was saying'' she continued ''Tsunade-sama and I noticed this growing problem in the population, and this has been causing catastrophic consequences to the Village. Therefore, we came up with the KMP, aiming to make mothers and moms-to-be better prepared to take care of children. Hopefully, even give an incentive so more kunoichi decide to have their own children''

''So you decided to produce babies so they can use them as experiments?'' Sakura raised an eyebrow in confusion.

''You make it sound horrible, it's not like that!'' Shizune reprimanded ''they are not real babies, they are dolls whose purpose is to teach the women in Konoha how to become good mothers, because they will behave just like real babies''

''They do look like real babies'' Sakura admitted ''do they work?''

Shizune gave her an evil look.

''Well, we're going to find out now, you will be our first test!''

Sakura blinked twice.

''WHAT?''

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This is just some weird idea I came up with when I saw a child with her Baby Reborn doll a few weeks ago, and I thought maybe I could write a comedy out of this idea hahahahah

Thank you very much for reading the prologue!

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Blackfan Diamond


	2. Chapter 1

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 **CHAPTER 1:**

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''You really want to do this?'' Tsunade asked her, looking at her pupil with curiosity

''No! Of course I don't!'' Sakura declared ''this is absolutely, totally, tremendously insan-''

''Of course she wants to'' Shizune interrupted ''and trust me, Tsunade-sama, no one needs this more than Sakura, I'm _sure of it_ '' she whispered to her mentor. Tsunade had no doubts about that, she'd taken extra care to make sure everyone who worked in that hospital did the best they could to keep Sakura away from the pediatric area of the hospital, for the safety of all babies and children in town.

 _''Need anything, Sakura-sama?'' one of the nurses asked her when they were crossing paths on one of the corridors._

 _''No, it's fine! I'm just going to take a look at the newborns, they are so cute!''_

 _The man gulped_

 _''Wait, wait! I think they said there's an emergency arriving in the ER and they need you there!''_

 _''But it's not my day in the ER today, someone else should be there'' she replied in confusion_

 _''I'm afraid the doctor who's in charge is away at the moment, you should go!''_

 _''There are like, at least 20 other doctors there, and the ER is on the other side of the building, I'm sure others can handle it''_

 _''It must be someone with green eyes!'' he added quickly_

 _''What?''_

 _''Yeah, because you see, the patient has to be treated in a special room and they're going to use a new light equipment that might damage the eyes of anyone who has blue, brown or dark eyes, it can only be green''_

 _''This…''_

 _He held his breath_

 _''… I think it makes sense, actually'' she thought about it for a second._

 _He kept on holding his breath_

 _''Okay then, I'm heading to the ER, I'll come back later to check on those cuties!'' she said as she turned around to go back to the other side of the hospital._

 _The nurse released the air and brought a hand to his racing heart._

 _The babies were safe._

 _For now!_

''So first thing we're going to do'' Shizune said to Sakura ''is go to the Processing Room and make you your own baby''

''What do you mean?!'' Sakura yelled, startled. What kind of evil experiment were they going to do with her?

''Stop being so loud! We're just going to make you a baby that looks more like you. After all, he or she is going to be your child for the time being, so it must look at least a little like you. And of course, you'll get to choose the name too''

Sakura considered that information. She was actually starting to like that idea!

Tsunade giggled and followed them to such room, a few steps behind them.

''Let's see'' Shizune started, looking at a machine Sakura had never seen before ''we can create a baby using only your genes or we can mix your characteristics to someone else's, what would you prefer? Of course, the person will never know and it won't affect them in any way, so don't worry too much about it. It will be your child and yours alone'' she assured her.

Sakura pretended to think for a moment. Only pretended because her malicious mind had already formed an idea. She was sure whose child the baby should be!

''Hmmm do you happen to have Sasuke-kun's genetics recorded in the system?'' she asked calmly, holding her hands together in front of her body in an innocent position.

Shizune started to laugh her, pointing at Tsunade.

''I _KNEW_ she was going to say that!''

Tsunade only covered her face to hide her smile. Her student really was unbelievable.

Sakura shrugged innocently.

''So?!'' she pressed, eagerly.

Shizune turned to the computer

''I'm almost certain we don't'' she admitted ''Sasuke hasn't been to the hospital to run exams since he came back to Konoha, you know how stubborn he can be''

Sakura's excitement suddenly vanished.

''So he can't be the father of my child?'' she didn't even pay attention to how awkward that sounded when she said it loud. Well, all of that was already awkward enough, she thought to herself!

''Unless…'' Shizune thought for a bit ''Well, forget it, of course you wouldn't have''

''What is it?'' Sakura inquired

''I was going to ask if you have something on you that might have some of his cells on it, but of course you don't, why would you'' she sighed.

''What, of course I do!'' Sakura exclaimed. Then she realised she sounded like a real stalker right now ''I mean…'' she coughed ''we're from the same team and all so I might have one thing or two back in my apartment'' she rubbed her neck and looked to the side, blushing.

Shizune pressed her lips hard to suppress a wide smile.

''Well, if that's the case'' she said, not managing to conceal the smile when she saw that, from behind Sakura, Tsunade was moving away from them so the pinkette wouldn't hear her laughing ''bring something here to us by tomorrow, okay? And meanwhile you can choose two names for your child: a girl's name and a boy's name, because it will be random of which gender the child will be. The initial idea is to prepare mothers to look after children up to the age of 4, we haven't managed to make a proper baby to simulate children beyond that age, so-''

''Wow, wait, wait, wait!'' Sakura's eyes widened ''I'll have to look after this doll for _four years_?!''

''Let me finish!'' she scolded her ''because it's a doll and the idea is only to teach women how to become well-prepared mothers, the doll grows up in a much faster pace than a normal child. It should be 4 years old in one year's time, and then when it reaches the end of its growth it will automatically be deactivated and you can return it to the hospital.'' then she coughed and added ''with a report of at least 300 pages telling us about the experience and how to improve it''

''Wait'' Sakura started, and Shizune was sure she was going to have to listen to a whole complaint now: she knew Sakura hated to write reports ''you mean the doll can _grow_?!'' Sakura's jaw dropped.

''It can, but only up to the age of 4'' she nodded ''It's supposed to behave and look like a real baby and a real child, no one must be able to tell it's a doll. The idea is to make women really believe they are dealing with a real child, otherwise, they won't take the task seriously and won't learn from it''

Sakura brought a hand to her face in amusement.

''And to think I lived to see something like this'' she murmured to herself ''meaning the baby can die too?''

Shizune made a face.

''If you don't make any terrible blunder, it shouldn't come to that point''

Sakura clasped her hands together.

''Cool, I can totally handle this! My child will be the most awesome child in town, you'll see that!''

Shizune smiled.

''I appreciate the enthusiasm! I'll meet you at this same place tomorrow in the morning then!''

''Understood!''

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''Can I be his Godmother?!'' Ino asked her ''please, please, please?''

''We don't even know if it's gonna be a he!'' Sakura retorted

''I'm sure it will! I've always seen you as a mother of boys!'' she got up from bed to pick up a glass full of candies and lollipops, then came back to bed with it, laying on her belly next to Sakura, who was reading the 'Ideas for Names' section on a magazine for pregnant women.

''I like baby boys'' she admitted ''they say boys tend to be closer to their mothers and girls to their fathers, so maybe a boy would be nice''

''Mhm'' Ino agreed, putting one of the lollipops in the shape of a heart in her mouth ''and have you chosen what the least compromising thing you have of Sasuke-kun's is to take to the hospital tomorrow?''

Sakura closed the magazine and fell on her back, covering her face with a pillow and pretending to cry

''It's going to be so embarrassing!''

Ino giggled

''At least you have a closet full of things to choose from'' she smiled provokingly at her.

Sakura threw the pillow on her friend.

''Hey, hey! No violence here, lady!'' Ino said while laughing, defending herself from the pillow ''you should probably choose the last thing you've got from him, it should have more of his cells on it''

Sakura chocked and her face suddenly turned red. She tried to hide her face with the magazine, but it was too late, Ino had seen it.

''Oh, Sakura, Sakura! What is it?''

Sakura pressed the magazine against her face harder and shook her head, denying Ino her answer.

Ino started to laugh and crawled to the other side of the bed, poking her friend everywhere, making the pinkette laugh aloud because of the tickling.

''Tell me, tell me!'' she urged her.

''It's way too embarrassing!''

''Just do it!''

''I can't!''

''Say itttttttt! Otherwise, I'll tickle you to death!''

''Oh damn, fine!'' she surrendered, putting a hand between the two to prevent any more tickling attacks from the blonde. Then she sat in bed and inhaled deeply ''You remember last summer when we all went to the beach?'' Ino nodded ''On the last day, when we were getting our clothes from the washing machine, Sasuke-kun couldn't find his shorts, remember?''

Ino's eyes widened and she started to laugh loudly, falling on her back and moving her legs as she laughed hysterically.

''Oh my God! I can't believe you stole his shorts!''

''It wasn't stealing okay!'' Sakura tried to defend herself, crossing her arms ''I just didn't trust the washing machine so I thought I might wash it at home… which I ended up never doing because it smelled so good'' she whispered the last part to herself, but soon realised Ino really wasn't paying attention to anything she was saying, she was just rolling on bed laughing, so she stopped making up excuses ''are you done?'' she asked after a while, her face as red as a tomato.

''You're the best, Sakura!'' Ino said, her eyes filled with tears after so much laughing ''I can't wait to see how you'll explain to Shizune-san how you got that pair of shorts!'' and after that she started to laugh again.

''This day is getting worse and worse by the minute'' Sakura sighed, looking up as if asking someone above to have mercy on her. But she soon started to laugh with her friend too. After all, Sakura wasn't one to feel sad for long!

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''…And so I told him I was great at knitting so I could fix his ripped shorts'' she finished her explanation, nodding as if that would make her story more convincing.

''I don't see any stitching marks on the shorts, though'' Shizune pointed out, looking suspiciously at the shorts Sakura had just given her.

''I'm very skillful'' she replied, trying to keep a straight face.

Shizune concealed a smile and turned around before Sakura could notice it.

''Well, it will do'' she finally said ''Come back in the afternoon with the name you've chosen to pick up your baby!''

Sakura nodded and hurried outside before Shizune could ask her any more questions about the infamous stolen shorts.

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''So?'' Shizune raised an eyebrow.

''You see'' Sakura brought her hands together in front of her chest ''Even though I'm an Aries, I have Ascendant in Libra so I'm very bad at choosing things, and names are such important things, you know, so…''

''You didn't come up with one'' Shizune concluded.

Sakura made a crying face

''I did not!'' she pouted.

Shizune sighed

''Well, she's ready to see you, let's see if you'll have any inspiration once you see her'' she turned around and started to walk.

''Wait! It's a she?!'' Sakura asked, but Shizune had already walked through a door to another room, leaving Sakura behind in a chair to wait for her child.

 _How did I get involved in all of this again?_ She thought to herself.

After a few more minutes, Shizune walked back into the room, a small baby wrapped in a yellow blanket in her arms.

Sakura couldn't even blink when she held her. For some reason beyond her, she had never managed to get anywhere near the pediatric area in the hospital, so she had seldom held babies in her life. And that baby was so beautiful, she thought. She had a very pale skin and short hair, black as night.

''Shizune-san'' she started, her voice low ''are you sure you didn't pick up a real baby by accident?'' she asked slowly, as if anything she did would break the baby or something.

''Sakura'' she called her ''this is your baby. _Your_ baby. That's all that matters, treat her as such'' she replied simply.

Then the baby opened her small eyes, and Sakura gasped in shock. She had exactly the same eyes as Sakura. The same green eyes that were different from the ordinary ones. No, Sakura's eyes had always been somehow special, in their own way. The little girl looked straight into Sakura's eyes and the pinkette held her gaze, feeling warm and happy all of a sudden. She didn't know why, but holding that little baby that looked so strange and yet so familiar in her arms made her feel extraordinary. It was a mix of feelings she had never experienced before.

Shizune understood they needed a little time by themselves and slowly moved away, closing the door behind her and leaving the new mother and daughter alone in the room.

Sakura carefully raised her right hand and offered it to the newborn. She stared at it for a while and then grabbed her finger with her small hand, holding it as tightly as she could, then returning Sakura's gaze. The medic-nin smiled affectionately at her and gently stroked her with her nose, feeling her warm skin against hers.

Then the baby started to make some faces and suddenly started to cry, and Sakura noticed something was stinking in the room and it was coming from the blanket under the baby, and it was starting to turn brown, green and _wet_.

''SHIZUNE, HELP ME!''

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''Phew, Teme! Isn't it good to finally be back? Home sweet home!'' Naruto cheered as both ninjas walked through the Konoha Gates.

Sasuke didn't reply, but he shared Naruto's feelings. Maybe not all that excitement, but at least the relief of finally being back to the village, where he would finally be able to rest after having spent 11 months away, being only in the company of Naruto - who had been babbling nonstop during all that period!

If he was honest, it hadn't been that bad being away from Konoha. Ever since he'd come back, after the War, he hadn't felt at home in the village. Of course, almost every place was quite familiar to him, but the Uchiha District wasn't. The apartment he had lived in when he was a teenager - in order to escape from the loneliness of the empty streets where once was the powerful district of Konoha's Police Force - was now occupied by a new family, leaving him to go spend long nights alone in that haunted place he once called his home. He tried to pretend everything was fine - if there was one thing he didn't want, was to be _pitied_ by Naruto, Sakura or Kakashi - but if he was honest it felt terrible being back there, especially now that he was avoided by most people in the Village, who didn't trust him in the slightest. He felt like a criminal. Well, if he was to be fair, they had all the right to think that.

Sasuke thought maybe coming back had been a mistake.

''Hey, Teme, did you listen to what I just said?'' Naruto demanded, stopping in front of the Uchiha so Sasuke would pay attention to him.

''Hn?''

''You go to the Hokage's Tower report the mission; I'm heading to Ichiraku's cause I'm _starving!_ Meet me there after you're done!''

Before Sasuke had any time to reply, Naruto ran to the restaurant's direction, screaming and waving to everyone in excitement 'I'm back, everybodyyyyyyyyy!'

The Uchiha rolled his eyes and walked in slow paces to see Tsunade. The sooner he finished this, the sooner he'd go get some rest

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''PLEASE TAKE IT BACK'' Sasuke heard a familiar voice scream from inside the Hokage's room.

''It's not _it_ , Sakura!'' Tsunade reprimanded.

Sasuke sighed and leaned against the wall, deciding to wait until their talk was over before knocking to deliver his report. It wasn't long until finally he heard the door click and Sakura came out of the room, something screaming in her arms. A baby?

''Shhh, hey, darling, it's alright, don't cry, please don't cry!'' she was telling it ''oh, sorry'' she said when she bumped into him, but she was so concentrated in trying to make the child stop crying that she didn't even realise it was him. He followed her with his eyes until she was out of sight, walking down the corridor while trying to bribe the child to stop crying with 'Do you want candies? Chocolates? Maybe some juice? Milkshake? Just tell me, please, I'll give you anything, just stop crying!'

Sasuke was puzzled, what was Sakura doing with a baby?

''Come inside, Uchiha'' he heard the Hokage call him. Slowly, he went inside, but not before looking back in the direction where the pinkette had headed. He felt his heart race a bit for some reason he couldn't tell.

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''How was your first day as a mother?'' Ino provoked, moving closer to walk alongside Sakura as she wandered around in the marketplace with a stroller. Inside it, a small little girl slept soundly.

''Horrible, I even tried to give her back, but Tsunade-sama wouldn't take her'' Sakura rolled her eyes ''I didn't manage to sleep for a whole hour last night, Hae Ra kept waking up and crying all the time. The neighbors even knocked on my door to ask if I was okay and why they could hear a baby crying in my apartment'' she sighed and ran a hand through her long and messy hair ''if this keeps happening I'm afraid we won't be able to stay in my apartment much longer''

''You named her Hae Ra?'' Ino blinked a few times ''that's not a common name, how did you come up with that?''

''Cause when she starts to cry she goes in a crescendo like haaaAAAAEEEEEEE and then she screams at the top of her lungs, releasing every molecule of air inside her small body: RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!'' Sakura demonstrated, alarming everyone in the marketplace, who looked at her with wide eyes, the older citizens bringing a hand to their hearts as if they were at the eminence of a heart attack after that scare.

The scream not only scared all of them, but also woke up Hae Ra, who rubbed her small eyes and then started to cry, exactly like Sakura had demonstrated, but nonstop.

''Shh, Hae Ra, no!'' Sakura picked her up and tried to embrace her, doing her best to calm down the baby who screamed for dear life.

''Is that Sakura-chan?!'' Naruto chocked with the ramen he had just brought to his mouth, eyes opening widely as he stared at his pink-haired teammate, desperately trying to make the baby stop crying ''since when does she have a baby?!''

Sasuke had been watching her since he had sensed her chakra signature in the marketplace, following her every move. His eyes furrowed in disconcert as he watched her and the baby on the other side of the road where they stood.

''Most importantly'' Naruto started, jaw dropped as he watched the scene that seemed unbelievable to his eyes ''who's the father?''

Sasuke clenched his fist.

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Here comes a new chapter of KMP for you guys :3 I hope you like it, I had lots of fun writing it!

Big hugs!

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Blackfan Diamond


	3. Chapter 2

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CHAPTER 2

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''Maybe it's Shikamaru?'' Naruto asked, staring at the list of names he had written on a napkin.

Sasuke thought about it for a second. Shikamaru didn't sound like someone Sakura would fall in love with. At least that's what he thought. He wrinkled his nose: no, Sakura had better taste than that, he was the living proof of that!

''I don't think so'' he concluded.

''Mmm'' Naruto brought the pen to his mouth and thought for a moment before nodding and crossed his name from the list ''Perhaps Shino?''

Sasuke shook his head.

''Unlikely''

Naruto rubbed his head, his face twisted as he thought harder. Then his eyes opened widely and he hit the table with both hands.

''It's Lee!''

Sasuke's eyes widened a bit too as he took in that idea. Could it be? Lee? It actually made a lot of sense considering how long Lee had been chasing Sakura. Had she finally given in and returned his feelings?

''It's actually quite possible'' he agreed.

''It is! And he's close to Sakura too, they've been friends for some time already!'' Naruto nodded frantically ''it makes a lot of sense, the baby has dark hair! Who else do we know that is close to Sakura who also has dark hair?''

''Hey, Naruto! Sasuke-san!'' both heads turned to watch Sai coming in their direction, waving ''I heard you were back, how have you been?''

Naruto and Sasuke exchanged glances.

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''I'm coming, I'm coming!'' Sakura whispered as she walked to the door, already knowing who had knocked ''Sup, Ino'' she greeted her blonde friend.

''I'm great, how's my little godchild?'' she walked inside, looking around trying to find a trace of dark hair, her hands holding two bags full of toys she'd bought to her new favorite person in this world.

''She's asleep, finally'' she sighed ''it took me four hours, _four hours_ to make that little beastie fall asleep. She completely destroyed some of my scrolls by throwing her milkshake on them''

''You gave her milkshake?!'' Ino shouted in horror.

''Yup, strawberry milkshake, my favorite'' Sakura replied proudly ''I've put some inside her bottle and she loved it''

Ino closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.

''Sakura, newborns can't drink milkshake! You're a doctor, you know that!''

''But she loved it! It was the only thing that made her stop crying'' the pinkette defended herself, crossing her arms ''and she's very stubborn''

Ino rolled her eyes and walked to her friend's bedroom.

''Well that's not surprising given who her parents are'' she murmured ''Uh, Sakura'' she called ''come here, please?''

Sakura followed her to the bedroom and Ino pointed to the floor.

''Why is Hae Ra sleeping on a dog bed?''

''Where else would she sleep? Sakura was puzzled ''Besides, that's very comfortable, I tried it myself!'' she smiled proudly.

Ino thought her friend was really unbelievable.

''Okay, I'll need to teach you the basics of taking care of children. Come sit down, will you?''

''I don't need this, I'm perfectly capable of doing this, look how good Hae Ra is!''

'' _Sit down_ ''

Sakura gulped and silently obeyed

''Yes, Ma'am''

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''Sakura-chan is never late for our Team's Reunion at Ichiraku's'' Naruto commented, looking nervously at his surrounding as if by doing so she would magically pop up.

Sasuke only crossed his arms and leaned on the back of his chair. A second later, a blonde young woman entered the restaurant and ordered two ramens to go.

''Oh, Naruto! Sasuke-kun!'' Ino greeted them.

''Ino!'' Naruto exclaimed, getting up from his chair and stopping right in front of the woman ''Have you seen Sakura-chan?!''

''You're waiting for her? She's not coming today, Hae Ra is keeping her busy at home, which is why I had to come to order us some food'' she pretended to wipe a drop of sweat from her forehead ''babies give us so much trouble, who would've thought''

Naruto made a displeased face and sat back on his seat, crossing his arms stubbornly.

''It's all Sai's fault'' he mumbled to himself.

''Huh?'' Ino took a seat next to him while she waited for her food.

''Don't try to fool us! We know Sai is Sakura's baby's father. I shouldn't have let her alone with that white… worm!'' he took so long to come up with an insult that Ino burst into laughter when he finally said it.

''Sai?! How did you come up with that crazy idea?'' she managed to say in between waves of laughter.

''Well, who else could it be?'' Naruto argued ''The baby has dark hair and Sakura doesn't, meaning it was inherited from her father. And Sai is the closest dark-haired shinobi to Sakura in the whole village!'' he reasoned.

Sasuke made a face at his last statement, but said nothing.

''I simply adore these conspiracy thoughts of yours'' she messed with his hair ''Oh, my food's ready! See you guys later! And stop bullying poor Sai!'' she waved them goodbye and quickly left the restaurant.

There was silence between the two shinobi for a moment.

''Do you think she's right?'' Sasuke asked.

Naruto shook his head and patted Sasuke on the shoulder, receiving a deadly look from the Uchiha.

''Sasuke, Sasuke. This is called Denial, it's one of the stages of grief. Soon she'll realize we are right'' he reassured him.

''Good. I would hate to have locked that guy so he would confess for nothing''

Naruto threw his head back and laughed loudly.

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''Not as easy as you'd thought, is it?'' Shizune remarked when she saw Sakura grab another cup of coffee from the machine and drink it slowly, her eyes weary.

Sakura mumbled something against the cup, but her voice was muffled so Shizune couldn't get it.

''And I hate coffee'' she added ''but without it, I wouldn't manage to stay awake here''

''It's only been 4 weeks, you should have been used to it already! Did you leave someone at home with Hae Ra?''

Sakura glared at her, offended.

''Of course, I wouldn't leave her alone!'' she replied ''I don't trust her enough to leave my dear apartment alone with her''

Shizune rolled her eyes and smiled

''And here I thought you two were starting to get along better together, but you're more concerned about your apartment!''

''Trust me, my apartment is in much bigger risk than she is if I leave her alone there'' Sakura pointed out, turning her back to her friend and walking away ''Ino's there to take care of Hae Ra while I'm working'' she explained before entering the room that led to the ER.

The black haired medic giggled.

''I wonder how long it will take until they start to get along well''

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''What?'' Sakura opened the front door in a rush, her eyes making it clear that she was very unhappy with whoever the unwanted guest was. Her face quickly changed to a surprised expression when she saw dark hair that matched beautiful onyx eyes ''oh, Sasuke-kun'' she forced a smile, closing the door behind her and leaning against it.

Sasuke felt a little uncomfortable with that situation. Did she not want him inside so badly that she was blocking his way so he wouldn't ask to come in?

''I was at the hospital today and-''

There was a big sound and the door behind Sakura moved, as if someone had hit it strongly.

Sakura forced a smile, her hands on the door to keep it from moving violently.

''Yes?''

''Uh…'' Sasuke's expression showed a bit of shock. What the hell was going on inside her home? ''Well, Tsunade was there and she told me to bring you these scrolls'' he showed her a bag full of scrolls.

There was another strong hit on the door coming from inside. This time, Sakura turned to the door and hit it back from her side.

''Hae Ra, stop!'' she scolded ''bad girl!'' then she turned back to Sasuke ''go on? Oh yes, the scrolls! Thank you very much, Sasuke-kun! I'm sorry to have troubled you with this'' she smiled apologetically at him.

Sasuke analyzed her face: her hair was a complete mess, there were bags under her eyes and her clothes were completely cramped, some parts of her shirt dirty with what he thought looked like baby's food.

''And I bumped into the apartment manager when I was climbing the stairs, he told me to give you this'' he handed her a white envelope.

''Oh, man'' she closed her eyes and defeatedly took the envelope from his hand ''let it please be a discount on the monthly bill''

''Judging by his face when he gave it to me, I doubt it'' Sasuke confessed.

She pouted childishly and sighed.

''Thank you, Sasuke-kun. Again, sorry to have troubled you''

''It was no problem''

''haaaAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE''

''No, no no!'' she shouted, opening the door only to see a little girl crying loudly, her chocolate milk on the floor, wetting her carpet and the child's clothes ''Hae Ra!'' Sakura complained. She was so tired that even her complaint sounded tired and defeated. Sasuke felt sorry for her. While Sakura grabbed the chocolate milk's package and went to the laundry to grab a piece of cloth to wipe the floor, Sasuke stared at the child in shock.

It had only been like, one month since he'd first seen that child. How come she'd grown up so fast? Was it another child? How many children did Sakura have?! Or was she taking care of other people's children?

When Hae Ra turned her teary eyes to Sasuke, he was sure that child was Sakura's. They had exactly the same beautiful eyes.

''Shh it's okay, it's okay'' Sakura tried to calm her down ''I'll give you another one, okay? Just don't cry, please'' she begged her, wiping the floor quickly and picking the child up ''let's change these wet clothes''

It seemed like Sakura had completely forgotten about Sasuke's presence, so he decided to close the door and wait until she came back. Maybe it was a good time to ask about the child's precedence. After all, they were from the same team, right? Would it be too awkward if he asked her about that? Would she think he was being nosy and meddling with her life? He, more than any other person, had no right to do that, and he knew that.

After a little while, Sakura came back carrying Hae Ra, who was licking a heart-shaped lollipop with delight.

''Oh, Sasuke-kun!'' she seemed to have remembered he was there ''I'm sorry, the house is a mess, I didn't want you to come inside because of that''

Indeed, it was.

There were toys all over the floor - if Sasuke and Sakura weren't ninjas, they'd probably trip on them -, dirty towels on some chairs, empty bottles, a dozen chocolate milk packages and children's juices all over the room, some empty baby's soups on the table, and Sakura's things were thrown all around because she didn't have a single minute to do the laundry or to clean the house.

''I didn't notice'' he replied politely, though he knew she was seeing right through his lie ''is this the same baby from before'' he asked, changing the subject.

Sakura sat on the couch with Hae Ra on her lap and put a lock of hair behind her ear.

''Yes, Hae Ra is growing up fast. _Thank God_ , because I can't handle this anymore! I can't wait until she turns into a child. I wonder how many months that will take'' she sighed.

Sasuke was puzzled.

''Months?''

Sakura nodded, putting her on the floor and laying more comfortably on the couch.

''It's only been one month, but she has already become a baby, she's no longer a newborn. Shizune said her growth should become slower now and become fast again within 3 or 4 months, when she'll start growing again''

''Sakura, I don't understand'' he admitted, starting to feel a little irritated ''what's going on? And why isn't Sai helping you?''

Sakura blinked a few times.

''Sai? What does Sai have to do with this?''

Sasuke huffed, annoyed.

''Normally the father should help to raise a child, I don't get why you're doing this all by yourself''

Sakura stared at him for a while and then burst into laughter, scaring the baby, who looked at her with wide green eyes.

''You think Sai is my baby's father?!'' she asked, amused.

Sasuke crossed his arms.

''If not him, who?''

''No one'' she replied simply

The Uchiha frowned, very annoyed.

''You don't want to tell me'' he guessed

''Hae Ra is _my_ daughter'' she stood up and returned his hard gaze.

''You mean to say you made her all by herself?'' he said, mockingly.

''Well… not really…'' she blushed ''I mean…''

Sakura's blush made Sasuke's blood boil inside his veins. How did anyone dare touch her?

''It's complicated'' she finally said

''It's not''

Sakura gave him an angry look.

''Why do you care anyway? You never cared about anything that concerned me in your life!''

Sasuke was taken aback by her words, and for a moment he couldn't utter a word.

''You're right'' he finally managed to say.

''Sasuke-kun…''

''It's none of my business''

He turned around and walked to the front door.

''For God's sake'' Sakura rolled her eyes ''it's for that mother's program thing, okay?''

Sasuke stopped and turned around.

''What?''

''This thing Tsunade and Shizune were doing to make mothers better prepared to take care of their children and all that stuff'' she sat back on the couch, then raised one finger ''which is actually a way of male chauvinism, because both the mother _and_ the father should learn how to take care of the child, it's not like the woman should do it all by herself!'' then she stood up ''actually, I'm going to tell that to them right now, you stay here with Hae Ra while I go tell them about Konoha's _Parents_ Program, which is a much more appropriate name!'' she started to walk outside, but Sasuke took her by the shoulders. Sakura could be so impulsive sometimes, he thought.

''You can do that later, now you're going to explain everything to me''

Sakura made a displeased face, but nodded in agreement.

Leaving out some irrelevant things - like Sasuke being Hae Ra's father! - Sakura explained briefly how she ended up with a little she-devil at home for a whole year, and how she was to care for her as if she was her own child.

''Because she's supposed to grow up until the age of 4 in one year, she grows up in a faster pace than normal children. This is why she looks much older than she did when you first saw her'' she lowered her face so she was at the little girl's level ''I'm starting to think I should've named you Mon, because then whenever I speak of you I can say The Mon, which fits you perfectly''

Hae Ra pouted and looked like she was about to cry again. Sasuke made a face.

''Maybe she's behaving so badly because you keep acting as if she's some sort of punishment'' he said ''I know it's now what you wanted, but try to think of her like she is blood of your blood'' he lowered himself down and gently rubbed her head, receiving a toothless smile from her ''even though she isn't a real person, she looks like she has feelings. Or… something close to that'' he frowned ''And she needs your attention because children simply need attention''

When he looked back at Sakura, she was staring at him with an incredulous expression.

''Who are you and what have you done with Sasuke?'' she joked, laughing.

He snorted and stood up again. He didn't know why he said that either. For some reason, he felt more sympathetic towards the baby now - and no, it had nothing to do with the fact that he was relieved she wasn't another man's child!

''No, no, not this envelope!'' Sakura took the white paper from her small hands and brought it to her lap, opening it slowly as if the slowest she did it, the smoother the words inside would be.

 _._

 _Dear miss Haruno,_

 _Recently, I've been receiving many complaints about excessive noise in your apartment. I've tried to be reasonable because I know you have a newborn child living with you, but the complaints haven't stopped, nor did the noise._

 _I understand you're a decent woman and you're trying your best to raise your child alone, it mustn't be an easy task. Still, it is my job as the apartments' manager to watch over the well-fair of everyone living in the building, and your neighbours are resolute that you must move out. Otherwise, they will._

 _It pains me to say this, but I must ask you to move out. You have one week._

 _Hoping for your and your child's wellbeing,_

 _The apartments' manager._

 _._

''This can't be happening'' Sakura lowered the letter and Sasuke could see her shocked expression.

''What does it say?'' he asked

''I have one week to move out…'' she let her body fall on the couch and covered her face with a cushion ''I hate my life''

Sasuke said nothing, wondering what he should say.

''I can go back to my parents' house, but their neighbours will eventually start to complain too'' she said, then suddenly stood up with a shocked expression ''and I'll have to move out and then keep moving to other houses until I need to move out of the village and live like a nomad in this vast world!''

Sasuke rolled his eyes

''Don't be so dramatic'' he said, then, after a while, he added, hesitantly ''if it helps… There are many houses in the Uchiha District, and no neighbours… You two can stay there for as long as you need''

Sakura looked at him, astonished.

''You really mean it?''

He shrugged

''It doesn't bother me, it's almost a whole neighbourhood just for myself so there's plenty of room for two more people there''

Without thinking, Sakura jumped on his neck to embrace him

''Thank you _so much_!'' she exclaimed

Sasuke's body was suddenly in defence mode, so alarmed he was. He couldn't remember the last time someone embraced him.

Sakura then noticed what she'd done and quickly put some distance between them again.

''Uh… sorry'' she laughed nervously, playing with a lock of hair ''I'll start packing at this instant!'' she said ''would you mind calling Naruto to help me?''

Before waiting for a reply, she rushed to her bedroom.

Big green eyes stared at Sasuke, a toy on her mouth. She didn't understand anything that was going on. Still, she offered a smile to Sasuke again. He stroked her small cheek lightly.

''Okay''

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With all of Naruto's bushins help, all of Sakura's things were on one of the houses in the Uchiha's district in one day. Even though she was very tired, she felt great working at the hospital that day, knowing she would be living in a new house since that day and that there would be no annoying neighbours to complain about any noise! And the best part: she would be even closer to Sasuke-kun!

''Sakura-sama'' one of the nurses called. Sakura turned to him with a smile on her face, but his face showed her things were not good.

 _Uh oh_

''What is it?'' she asked

''There's a little boy in the ER'' he started, then he bit his lower lip ''he's had one of his hand amputated''

Sakura's eyes widened in horror

''What?! How?!''

The nurse lowered his head

''It seems his father has always been found of weapons. While he was away, the child took some relic sword to play with and broke it by accident, and the father felt so enraged when he found out that on a burst of rage he cut out his son's right hand''

Sakura's jaw dropped and she felt her whole body shake. She was used to terrible stories, but this was too much.

''Where is the father?'' she clenched her fist, fury taking over her.

''He… ran away'' he said ''I believe he felt too guilty to face his son again. We were hoping you could do something about the boy…''

Sakura waited not another second and hurried to the ER.

It was a blonde little boy, with two big startled eyes, looking at everything around him with worry.

''Hey, buddy'' Sakura approached him ''I'm Sakura, I'm here to help you, okay? What's your name?''

The young boy bravely replied: ''Sora''

''What a beautiful name, Sora! And what a brave young man you are'' she patted his head gently ''may I see your wound?''

He handed her his arm and Sakura gently took the cloth that the nurses had wrapped around his arm off. Everything the other medics could've done, they already did.

''Where's papa?'' he asked.

Sakura was paralyzed. She didn't know what to reply.

''If you see him here, please tell him that I'm sorry'' he started ''and that when my hand grows again I'll help him take care of his weapons!''

Sakura's heart ached so strongly she felt like she had trouble breathing. She pressed her lips strongly and did the best she could to stop tears from falling. Being a doctor, she was used to dealing with horrible situations such as this, but she was a human too, and what the boy said just _hurt_.

It took long minutes until she felt strong enough to look up at him with determined eyes.

''Lend me your strength, Sora'' she asked.

Then, she took him to an empty patient's room, where there would be just the two of them, and she closed her eyes, concentrating the best she could. In her mind, she went through the scrolls she had been reading the last few days, whenever Hae Ra was asleep, with healing jutsus so complex even Tsunade wasn't able to perform.

But she wasn't Tsunade, she was Sakura. And she believed in herself and in her will to save her patients.

Slowly, the piece of bone exposed in the place where his hand used to be started to grow.

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When Sakura reached her limit, she let her body fall on the bed. Making a big effort, she opened her eyes to see the result of 4 hours of hard work. Sora's hand was much like what it was before, but the bones and all of the muscles had been regenerated, nerves and vessels in place again. Sakura wrapped his hand once more and told him to rest, then she called Shizune to help his skin to grow again.

''How did you…?'' the dark-haired medic asked in shock as she saw the boy moving his hand astonished, because he could see every muscle moving as he moved his hand.

Sakura smiled at her.

''I did it''

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.

The only thing Sakura thought about when she left the hospital that day, after resting a bit to regain her strength, was that she needed to see Hae Ra.

She opened her new home's house to find Naruto playing with her on the floor, using different voices to make each toy speak and attack each other. Hae Ra was clapping and laughing when the good guy punched the bad guy. Sakura leaned against the door and watched them playing with her heart warm. She watched Hae Ra's amused expression until she finally met her eyes, when her green emeralds sparkled and she threw her arms in Sakura's direction so she would pick her up.

Sakura did her best not to cry when she picked her up and hugged her tightly.

''Hey, sweetie'' she greeted her ''how was your day? Did you miss mama?'' she watched as Hae Ra snuggled against her chest ''was uncle Naruto good to you?''

''I'm great with children, Sakura-chan! You can ask me to take care of Hae Ra-san whenever you want! She's stubborn just like you, but she's cute'' he rubbed the back of his neck and kissed the baby's cheek before leaving the house.

''C'mon, mama is going to make you a delicious milkshake tonight, and we can read a story together before we sleep''

Hae Ra's metal heart beat faster, and for the first time since she was activated, she felt loved.

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* * *

I'M CRYING WHILE I POST THIS

Okay, so

I wrote this today because it was raining heavily so I didn't manage to go to college, and I had a great time writing this chapter, I hope it pleases you all too S2 !

Also, I don't know if all of you know, but my first language isn't English, so I apologize for any grammar mistakes or other things you might find on this chapter, I promise I'm doing my best!

Big hugs!

.

Blackfan Diamond


	4. Chapter 3

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CHAPTER 3

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''Are you listening to me?'' Ino asked, annoyed

''Mhm… The airplane is coming, coming, coming, coming and it's going to laaaaaand, yes! Well done, Hae Ra!'' Sakura congratulated, taking more fruit slices with the spoon and repeating the process until it reached Hae Ra's mouth again.

''Sakura'' the blonde girl crossed her arms

''I'm listening! I just need Hae Ra to finish eating her breakfast before doing anything else'' she explained, smiling at the young girl and making silly faces that made her laugh.

Ino rolled her eyes and waited impatiently until the plate was empty.

''Done?'' she asked.

''Now there's dessert'' Sakura announced ''who is a good baby and earned some chocolate? Who is it?'' she asked childishly, but Hae Ra loved it.

Ino grunted and turned around

''I'll just tell her you're too busy and that she should leave then'' she threatened.

Sakura got up, laid a small kiss on Hae Ra's head and another on Ino's cheek before skipping downstairs. Ino smiled.

''Antieeeeeee!'' she exclaimed, jumping in the woman's arms and hugging her tight.

''Sakura, my sweetheart!'' she hugged her back even tighter, closing her eyes in delight ''I've missed you so much, my dear!''

''I missed you too!'' Sakura let her go and took her hands.

''Now let me take a good look at you! Oh my, you're a grown up already!''

It had been way too long since they last saw each other, Sakura could count in one hand the number of times she'd seen her aunt, Haruno Hitori, in her whole life. For some reason beyond her, Sakura's parents were never happy when she visited, they wanted her to leave as soon as possible - even though they never directly said it to her. Hitori was a fair young woman, and although she was her papa's twin, she looked much younger than Kizashi: she had long pink hair, reaching her waist, a glowing tiara on her head and big blue eyes that looked much wiser than her looks gave away. She was always dressed in black, Sakura couldn't recall a single time she'd visited that she wore any other different colour. Her clothes were always adorned with black, purple and green feathers, giving her an adventurous look Sakura had always loved in her. The person she loved the most in the world was Sakura, her only niece, and she showed a peculiarly aggressive tone when she talked about Tsunade. The reason for that, though, Sakura never knew, and the only thing she ever gathered was a ''false doctor!'' once, but when she asked Hitori about it, she shook her head and changed the subject.

''I have so much to tell you!'' she started, but her aunt interrupted her

''First of all, I want to see my grand-niece!'' she smiled, and Sakura hurried upstairs to bring her Hae Ra, leaving an angry Ino - who wanted to babysit her for the day - behind.

''Isn't she adorable?'' Sakura asked, proudly, carrying Hae Ra carefully as the young girl smiled at them, 4 teeth pointing out.

''Oh my God, she is!'' Hitori took her in her arms and analysed the young girl thoroughly, as if searching for something ''Hae Ra, right?''

Sakura nodded, looking lovingly at her daughter, who returned her look in curiosity, not understanding who that stranger was.

''I'm not sure I should ask, given I haven't seen anyone besides Ino here'' Hitori said with caution ''but who's the lucky father?''

Sakura smiled shily

''I'm sure you've met Sasuke-kun?''

Hitori's eyes widened

''Oh my God! You've finally made him fall for you?!''

Sakura pouted

''Not really, he doesn't know''

Hitori gave her an inquisitive look and Sakura told her the long story.

''I see'' she analyzed Hae Ra again, the baby not looking that appealing to her anymore ''Why not tell him?''

Sakura gaped

''Are you crazy? He's gonna kill me!''

Sakura's heart raced. Yeah, he'd been nice giving them a place to live in the Uchiha's district and all, but having made a baby out of his stolen shorts was a whole other thing!

At this moment, Hae Ra made a face and started to cry, throwing her arms on Sakura's direction so her mom would pick her from the other woman's arms.

''Shh it's alright, darling'' Sakura snuggled her ''she is very needy of her mama'' she explained ''isn't that right, Hae Ra?''

Hitori watched them for a second and then walked to the sofa

''And how's your training with the hokage?''

Sakura gave Hae Ra a lollipop and put her on the floor, patting her head before coming to sit in front of her aunt, on the opposite sofa.

''Oh I haven't been training with Tsunade anymore for a little while'' Sakura admitted ''Everything she could pass on me, she already did. Now I'm only studying on my own to try to improve my skills''

''And are you succeeding?'' Hitori inquired

Sakura remembered the day at the hospital. If she was honest, she couldn't recall having ever seen Tsunade-sama creating a new limb on a person unless she used Hashirama's cells. Sakura had done it all by herself.

''I think I'm evolving'' she said after a while ''slowly, but I am''

Hitori bit her lower lip and leaned forward

''Sakura, there's something we must discuss-''

They heard someone knock on the door

''Sakura, are you in here?''

''Oh it's Sasuke-kun!'' Sakura stood up quickly ''don't say a thing about what we discussed!'' she urged her, quickly heading to the door.

Hitori sighed and leaned back on the couch again.

''Hey'' she greeted him

''Hey'' he greeted her back, and Sakura wondered why his face was so red and he seemed so shy

Sakura waited patiently while he thought of the words to say.

When Sasuke looked up again, though, he sensed movement coming from the living room.

''Is there anyone here with you?'' he asked

Sakura nodded

''My aunt, Hitori, she was passing by and decided to stop to see Hae Ra and I'' she came inside again ''come on in, let me introduce you too! Auntie, this is Sasuke-kun. Sasuke-kun, this is my aunt, Haruno Hitori''

Sasuke nodded in her direction

''You're the famous Uchiha Sasuke'' the woman stood up and greeted him ''now I see why Sakura has always had a crush on you''

Sakura blushed violently

''Auntie!'' she reprimanded, receiving a laughter from Hitori

Sasuke coughed, both flattered and uncomfortable.

''Very well, I'll leave you two to talk then'' Hitori said ''Sakura, dear, come have dinner at your parent's tonight, I'll make you something delicious!'' she promised, then walked outside.

There was an awkward silence between them for a short while, both trying to figure what to say

''So'' Sakura started, playing with a lock of her long hair

Hae Ra just now noticed Sasuke's presence and released an exciting sound, throwing her arms on his direction and complaining until he picked her up.

''She's already fond of you'' Sakura commented, finding the scene in front of her very endearing: Hae Ra wanted to press every part of Sasuke's face with her small hands while Sasuke tried to avoid them, but still smiled at her warmly. He liked Hae Ra very much, though he never admitted it.

''Did you want to tell me anything?'' she asked, clearing her throat.

Sasuke tried to put Hae Ra on the floor, but she didn't want to let him go, so eventually he sat on the floor with her while she played on his lap with a green dinosaur.

''I want to ask you if you two don't want to move into the main house with me'' he said

Sakura held her breath

Live under the same roof as Sasuke-kun?! Like they were actual wife and husband?! Oh yes!

Sakura cleared her throat

''Are you sure, Sasuke-kun? We really don't want to disturb you''

 _Please insist!_

''It won't disturb me in the slightest'' he reassured her ''it will be good to have some company, it'll make the house more lively'' he smirked at her ''And I can't think of a better idea than this''

Sakura didn't even need to try to hide her wide smile, Sasuke was too busy playing with Hae Ra on his lap to pay attention to anything else in the world.

If anyone saw it, they would think they were an actual family

A real, happy family

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''Sakura-chan!'' Naruto exclaimed, waving at Sakura from the other side of the road, then coming in her direction

''What's up, Naruto?'' she greeted him

''Nothing much, just heading to Ichiraku's. Wanna join me?'' he invited

''Thank you, I'm dining with my parents tonight, aunt Hitori is here''

''Oh, I think I know her. Long pink hair and blue eyes right? What a strange aunt you've got, I must say'' he commented, rubbing the back of his neck

Sakura rolled her eyes

''She's not from here, that's all'' then something struck her ''I haven't seen Sai for quite a while, is he alright?''

Naruto smiled smugly at her

''Don't worry, Sakura-chan! We'll make him admit his fatherhood, Hae Ra must have her father around!''

''What on Earth are you talking about?'' Sakura asked, eyes wide opened

''Sasuke and I locked him up until he confessed he's Hae Ra's father, so you don't have to raise her alone!'' he explained, nodding repeatedly.

''Naruto, Sai isn't Hae Ra's father! Sasuke-kun is!'' she exclaimed

''What?'' a familiar voice said from behind her back

Sakura froze to her spot

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''You made Hae Ra out of Teme's shorts?!'' Naruto's jaw dropped

''It happened to be at my house so I used it…'' she was blushing hard

Sasuke had not said a single word since she promised to explain everything as long as he didn't get angry at her before listening to the whole story

''Teme'' Naruto looked at him, gaping ''poor Sai!''

Sasuke couldn't care less about Sai

He had known the baby had been created using Sakura's genes, but his too?

''Please don't get mad, Sasuke-kun'' she lowered her head ''I really wanted to have a part of you. Something that was just ours, Sasuke and Sakura''

Sasuke said nothing, he seemed deep in thoughts.

Then suddenly, he got up and walked out of Naruto's apartment - who happened to be the closest to where they had been, so they decided to have that talk there.

Both Sakura and Naruto looked astonished at the closed door

''Do you think he's mad?'' Sakura asked, afraid

''Nah, it's just too much to process'' Naruto said, maturely ''He already likes Hae Ra, so now that he knows she's part of him, he should like her even more, right?''

Sakura surely hoped so

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The only three people who seemed to be enjoying dinner were Hitori, Sakura and Hae Ra - who was playing with the baby's food Kizashi had prepared her. Sakura's parents were visibly uncomfortable with the presence of the third woman in the room.

''What have you been up to, Aunt?'' Sakura asked her in between bites of food

''The usual, sweetie'' she shrugged ''I love to travel and help the way I can whoever I can''

Mebuki snorted and Hitori gave her a deadly look

Sakura sensed the tense atmosphere and tried to change the subject, talking about her work at the hospital. Hitori seemed very interested in that.

''You should come with me, Sakura'' she said after a while ''I can teach you much more than you can possibly learn here. It pains me to see so much potential wasted!''

''Oh'' Sakura was confused ''I didn't know you were a ninja, aunt, how come I can't sense your chakra signature?''

Kizashi coughed

''Hitori, please pass me the water?''

Sakura found that all very weird. It was clear they hiding something from her, and she hated to be lied to!

Hitori too seemed quite annoyed. The difference was that she didn't try at all to hide it.

''Precise chakra control, darling, that's the secret'' she explained, and when Kizashi looked angrily at her she returned his gaze ''if you control your chakra well enough, you can even make it disappear completely, so much that you can go unnoticed if you walk slowly in the middle of a crowd and don't make sudden moves''

Sakura wowed at her words, eyes wide

''Are you serious?! I want to learn that! Stealth mode master level!''

''Enough, Hitori!'' Mebuki said, evidently irritated. Then she stood up and started to take the plates from the table ''dinner is over''

Hitori leaned back on her chair again and said nothing.

Sakura was confused. What had she done this time?

Hae Ra started to nag when the food she had been playing with was taken from her.

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That night, before Sakura left, Hitori came to meet her at the front door.

''I must depart now, my darling'' she announced

''Already?! You haven't stayed even an entire day here!''

''I know, but I can't stay much longer. I promise to come visit again soon. Meanwhile, keep this'' she handed Sakura a wooden box, an H carved on it. H from Haruno, Sakura guessed. It was too much on the left to her liking, though, it looked like the person who had carved the letter wanted to write something else but gave up, so there was only an H in a weird position.

''Thank you very much, aun-''

But the woman was gone.

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After dinner, that night, Sakura walked slowly inside the Uchiha's district to the main house with Hae Ra in her arms, aiming to get back to the main house without being noticed by Sasuke. What she wasn't expecting, though, was to see him walking somewhere carrying many pieces of wood in his arms.

''Eh… Sasuke-kun? What are you doing?'' for a moment, Sakura thought he was making a fire to burn her for her sins

''The playground, I'll rebuild it'' he said

Sakura was very confused, so she stood silent for a few seconds while he kept working. But because she is Sakura, she couldn't stay quiet for long:

''And why is that?''

Sasuke dropped the kunai with which he was carving something on the wood and looked at her with a serious look and then looked at Hae Ra in her arms

''Every Uchiha from my family played in this playground when they were kids. Hae Ra is an Uchiha, she'll have everything any other Uchiha has ever had and more''

Sakura felt her heart race

''She'll have the family she deserves, I'll make sure of that''

Sakura smiled brightly at him

They did sound like a real family now

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5 months after Hae Ra had been activated, she was already a child around 4 years old.

The life in the Uchiha District was restored as soon as both girls moved into the main house. Sasuke surely wasn't used to so much noise and mess, but he found out he didn't dislike it in the slightest. In fact, the lively house made his frozen heart start to warm up again.

Sakura had been spending all the free time she could trying to improve her medical jutsus, and the results she'd been seeing were unimaginable. Tsunade and Shizune were flabbergasted, she had quickly become much more skilful than both women, with precise chakra control and skills that were allowing her to do what the medicine had once considered unimaginable.

And Hae Ra... Well, Hae Ra was probably the happiest child in the entire village. She was bubbly, smart and energetic, always questioning everything and wanting to impress her parents at all times!

They had become a very, very good family, and happiness prevailed every day they spent together

Sakura was happy because she had an adorable daughter and she got to live under the same roof as Sasuke - which meant she got to see him at _aaaaaallllllll times_!

Sasuke was happy because, for the first time in a long time, he felt the void inside his chest be filled with something he had long lost: a loving family.

Hae Ra was happy too. She had the most loving and caring parents she could wish for: Sakura always looking after her and Sasuke playing with her and teaching her things every day.

Yeah... they were happy!

Then one day it ended

.

Sakura was in her bedroom sleeping - because she couldn't find a good excuse to tell Sasuke so he would let her sleep with him! - when suddenly she felt a chill on her spine. She didn't know why, but she knew she had to go see Hae Ra in her bedroom.

Getting up without making any noise, she quietly walked to her bedroom, opening the door to find her sound asleep, hugging the stuffed panda Sasuke had won her in the last festival.

She sighed in relief, but as she was about to close the door, she felt movement inside the room. Her vision sharpened as she tried her best to see through the dark. Perhaps she should turn on the lights to see if something was wrong? No, what if it had been just her imagination, it would only wake up Hae Ra and she would demand another story before sleeping again.

There was a spark and in a reflex, she grabbed one of the coloured pencils on the small desk next to her and threw it in that direction, hearing a loud animal cry when the pencil hit it.

Hae Ra got up, startled, and in less than a second Sasuke was in the room too, right behind her.

''Hae Ra!'' Sakura ran to her direction and hugged her tight.

''Mommy, what happened?'' she asked, scared

Sakura tried to calm her down - and mostly calm _herself_ down - while Sasuke came closer to the animal that had tried to attack his daughter.

A snake.

''How did this end up in here?'' Sakura asked him ''it could've killed Hae Ra!''

''It wouldn't have killed her'' Sasuke corrected ''this snake should bite her so she would sleep and then eat her alive and bring her still living to its owner''

Sakura hugged Hae Ra tighter, the young girl's tiny hands grabbing tight her mom's pyjamas.

''So someone wanted to kidnap Hae Ra?'' rage started to grow inside of Sakura.

''Precisely''

Sakura looked down at her daughter, her big green eyes staring at her in fear.

''How do you know that?''

Sasuke clenched his fist

''I know this snake''

Both girls held their breaths

''Orochimaru''

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* * *

I honestly have my doubts about this chapter

I actually always have doubts about anything I post, but anyway

I hope you like it!

Big hugsssss!

.

Blackfan Diamond


	5. Chapter 4

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CHAPTER 4

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''Ehhhh? He's back?!'' Naruto yelled.

''It seems so'' Tsunade nodded, analyzing the snake Sasuke and Sakura had brought her that morning ''the question is: what does he want with Hae Ra?''

Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto and Kakashi stood silent in the room, until finally the latter spoke.

''The only he's always wanted''

Naruto looked up at him, puzzled

''What would that be?''

Sasuke, Sakura and Tsunade looked at him in shock, understanding the meaning his words held.

''But why Hae Ra then?!'' Sakura asked, flabbergasted.

''Wait! First things first!'' Naruto interrupted ''what is it?''

Sasuke rolled his eyes

''Think, Naruto'' Kakashi said ''It starts with an S, ends with an E and has 6 letters''

Naruto gave it a little thought

''Hmmmm a _Sacque_?''

Sakura snorted

'' _Sasuke_ , Naruto. _Sasuke_ '' Kakashi corrected him

The blonde frowned and looked at Sasuke

''Oh okay, but wasn't the attack meant for Hae Ra?''

''Precisely'' Sakura agreed, impatiently.

''Yes, but as far as everyone knows, Hae Ra is Sasuke's daughter, so they think she also has the Sharingan, which is what Orochimaru has always wanted the most'' Kakashi continued ''and more, she's still a child, she can be raised by him and brainwashed to do whatever he wants''

''And in the future give him Uchiha children'' Tsunade concluded.

Sakura was astonished

''SHE'S A CHILD!''

''He doesn't know she won't grow up much more than what she already has, and most importantly, that she is a…'' Tsunade noticed Sakura's frown and chose her words more wisely ''that she's not human, she will never become a ninja, awaken Sharkingan or even use chakra''

''Then all we have to do is explain everything to him'' Sakura said, determined ''I'm heading to his hideout right now''

Sasuke grabbed her arm and pulled her back

''There's no talking to Orochimaru, Sakura'' he said ''and we have no idea where is hideout is now, we can't do anything in a rush''

Sakura looked up at him angrily, but decided he was right

''What is most important now is to make sure Hae Ra is always safe while we come up with a good plan to get rid of Orochimaru for good''

Sakura stopped listening that moment, lost in thoughts.

It just wasn't _fair_! She finally had a family, a loving daughter and… Well, even though her relationship with Sasuke hadn't progressed much romantically, they had become closer friends during the past weeks, and she finally felt like she meant something for him. Now Orochimaru showed up again, to take the ones she loved the most from her one more time.

No, she wouldn't allow that.

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Sakura was watching as Hae Ra played in the playground - she had invited a few other kids to spend the day playing there - but her thoughts were somewhere else.

''A penny for your thoughts?'' Sasuke asked, coming closer and sitting on the grass next to her.

The pinkette sighed.

''It will never be easy, will it?'' she voiced her thoughts ''As long as he's out there, we can't lower our guard! Hae Ra can't defend herself''

Sasuke turned to look at his daughter - _daughter_ , the word still felt strange when he spoke or thought of it. He finally had a family, although a very awkward one. He was happy. Orochimaru wouldn't take that from him.

Sakura suddenly turned to him.

''Sasuke-kun'' she called, her eyes so determined that he dared not pay attention to anything else ''We have to go after him''

Sasuke nodded. He knew that was the only way.

''And kill him''

''Whoa, easy there'' he said, smirking

''Sasuke-kun, I will no longer tolerate him taking away everyone I care about. He's always wanted you, now Hae Ra too''

She realized it almost sounded like a confession again, but she cared not. She pretended not to have noticed it and kept looking straight forward.

''You needn't care about me, I'm never leaving again'' he promised. Sakura looked at him with bright eyes and he looked to the side, coughing uncomfortable.

She smiled.

''We'll be alright, right?''

He looked at her and nodded.

''Yes we will''

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When they stepped back into the Uchiha District that night, they already knew something wasn't right.

That same evening, while Ino took care of Hae Ra so Sasuke and Sakura could go talk to Tsunade again, there was another attack. And this time they couldn't protect her.

Although the front door seemed perfectly fine, Sasuke could see the lock had been violated and someone had walked inside. The furniture thrown upside down everywhere indicated a fight had happened in the house.

''Ino!'' Sakura screamed when she found the young woman lying unconscious on the kitchen's floor. The pinkette's hand glowed and she touched her friend's forehead. Soon after, she woke up.

''What the…?'' was the first thing she said ''HAE RA!'' she shouted

Sakura's heart started to pound

''Ino, where's Hae Ra?''

Ino looked frantically to her sides

''She was hiding under the table while I took care of the bandits'' she explained

''What?! What bandits?!'' Sakura yelled, her blood boiling

A pump on the floor made both women look on Sasuke's direction, who had brought one unconscious man from the corridor to the kitchen.

''It's the cursed mark on his neck'' he clenched his teeth, his eyes red with Sharingan ''this was Orochimaru's doing again''

Ino's eyes were filled with tears

''I'm so sorry! There were so many, I couldn't protect her…''

Sakura closed her eyes and closed her hands in fists.

''I'll kill that bastard!'' she hissed ''If he as much as _touches_ my daughter, I'll cut off his hands myself!''

Sasuke wasted not another second. He rushed upstairs to his room and started to get ready. He'd go after Orochimaru.

After doing her best to calm Ino down and assure her it hadn't been her fault so she would go home in peace, Sakura went to her bedroom. When she passed through Sasuke's bedroom, though, she only saw the window open and no sign of him.

 _That jerk_

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Sasuke wasn't far from the village when a Kunai came in his direction and landed a few centimeters ahead of him, forcing him to stop.

He sighed

''Go back to the village'' he said

Sakura was very, very angry at him. She walked in fast paces until she was in front of him and then took him by the collar

''How dare you leave me behind and go after that bastard alone again?!''

''It's completely different'' he reasoned. His face so calm she wanted to punch it.

''It's not completely different!'' she took one step away from him and looked at him with hurt eyes ''I thought we had become closer!'' she shouted ''that we were a team! A team! You and I! Sasuke and Sakura! But you're just the same jerk as before who doesn't give a damn about anyone's interests other than yours!''

''Sakura, it's not that''

''Oh is it not?'' she mocked ''Then what is it? You're too good to have someone slowing you down?''

''No''

''You want to do this yourself to prove you're capable of doing things alone?''

Sasuke closed his eyes

''No, Sakura!''

''Then what is it, Uchiha?!''

''Shit'' he cursed, then in a whim he embraced her.

Whatever curse Sakura had prepared to spat on him died in her mouth when his arms wrapped around her small body and brought her closer.

''I can't risk losing you too''

She held her breath.

After a moment, she found the control over her body again and managed to hug him back.

It was the first time he had ever hugged her

It was the first time they had been _this close_

And for a moment she forgot everything else, it was just them in her world.

''I can take care of myself'' she finally managed to say ''and I've got you there too'' she tried to joke, but his face was serious

''I won't be able to protect the two of you, I'm not…'' he looked to the side ''I'm still not strong enough to deal with these feelings''

Sakura stopped breathing

Wait, what feelings?!

They had to talk about that right now!

''What do you mean?'' she said, trying to hide the enormous expectations her mind had just created.

Sasuke thought about what to say for a moment, but then shook his head and let her go.

''We can talk once we're back safely in the village. With Hae Ra'' he determined.

Sakura couldn't say she wasn't disappointed, but he was right.

Hae Ra was the priority now.

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''Orochimaru never ceases to surprise me'' Sakura said bitterly ''a bandits base, really? Since when does he meddle with such people?''

Sasuke didn't reply. On his part, he was even more surprised than Sakura was. He knew Orochimaru wasn't one to make deals with those he considered inferiors, and bands of bandits weren't exactly what his old sensei considered the best company.

''Is there another way in?''

Sasuke's expression was serious

''One way in, one way out, no second entrances'' he said

Sakura bit her lower lip.

''Let's wait until night before we make a move then''

Sasuke knew that place much better than she did, Sakura thought, meaning he had a better chance of finding Hae Ra there. And he would need to go alone.

.

''What the- ?'' Sasuke woke up alarmed, smoke coming from the forest a couple hundred meters from where he was. Looking quickly to the side, he cursed: Sakura was missing.

''That woman'' he mumbled to himself, getting up quickly and grabbing Kusanagi and his equipment and running on that direction, only to see a message was attached to his sword: _Bring Hae Ra back_

Sasuke clenched his fists. As much as he wanted to go after Sakura, to make sure she was out of danger, he knew his best chance would be to use her - stupid and very predictable - plan to try and get inside the hideout.

As expected, there were still men guarding the entrance, though not quite as much as before. It wasn't hard to find a lone man standing farther from the rest and knock him down. Switching clothes and lowering his chakra signature, Sasuke started to make his way inside the hideout, using the alarming scenario as covering so he could go unnoticed.

.

Sakura, on her side, was both worried and… Well, she was just worried.

In her mind, that was the most original and greatest plan one could ever come up with. She was definitely proud of herself.

But the way things came out made her think perhaps that plan wasn't as clever and original as she had thought.

Bandits and ninjas started to appear from everywhere as soon as she made her presence noted, far more than she had imagined there existed around the hideout. And the worst thing was that almost none was coming from the one direction she wanted them to: the entrance.

Well, Sakura thought, the most I can do right now is to give them a pretty hard time so more must come and eventually the ones from the entrance will too.

She would only need to last long enough…

.

One thing Sakura had learned by herself in the previous years was that when she was alone, with no one there to protect her, and she was the only one in charge of taking care of her own well-being, she could be a monstrously strong shinobi.

It might have been because those were not great ninjas, only common bandits with insignificant chakra signature that she was dealing with, but man was she giving them a hard time! Being a medic-nin, Sakura was used to staying out of the battlefields - the medic mustn't die otherwise the whole army is doomed -, and acting in the backgrounds. But if there was one thing she did enjoy was to punch and knock and hit things!

She felt something pierce her and suddenly blood started to come out from her left flank, her flesh cut deeply.

 _Shit_

She didn't dare punch the floor where she stood: she knew for a fact that Orochimaru's hideouts were all underground, what if she accidentally crushed the ground above it and hurt Sasuke-kun or Hae Ra? No, she couldn't take any risks.

Jumping back to put some distance between her and the men attacking her, she took a few bombs from her pocket and threw them on their direction, smoke arising from the floor and making it impossible for anyone to see anything.

When the smoke was finally gone, Sakura wasn't there anymore.

Or at least, that's what they thought.

Sakura stood quietly on her spot, not making any move or sound, a cape from one of the bandits over her body, hiding the feminine form and, most importantly, the pink hair. For the next minute, she tried her best to control even the sound of her breath. The ninjas looked to their sides in confusion, shouting orders to find her.

Ever since her aunt had come to visit, Sakura had been trying out controlling her chakra the best she could, until it was almost imperceptible. According to the books she read about the subject, chakra was the essence in a person's life, not mattering if they were civilians or shinobi, the only difference between them being that the latter had a better control over their inner energy and were able to use it to transform the Nature's energy in the form of jutsus. But, basically, everyone had chakra. Only what was not alive didn't have chakra.

It sounded like it worked: Sakura had lowered her chakra signature so much, so much, that her presence became unnoticeable. If anyone looked straight in her direction, they could definitely see her - which was why she must not make any sudden moves and why she covered her body with the cape - but as long as no one looked straight at her, it was like there was no one there, like an object that one doesn't notice unless they pay attention to it.

Quietly, she lowered herself, praying that her knees didn't crack because of lack of exercise - being a mom was no easy task! - and silently made her way back to the hideouts entrance.

.

It was easy to pass through the remaining guards now that she was basically invisible - if they weren't paying enough attention when their eyes crossed her, she would go unnoticed.

Soon, she was inside the hideout, breathing deeply. Her chakra signature was still low, but not as low as it had been moments ago, when she was focusing exclusively on making it almost null.

Walking through the corridors, though, Sakura's heart skipped a beat.

Kusanagi was on the floor, but there was no sign of Sasuke.

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''I knew you'd come'' Orochimaru said

Sasuke was silent as he stepped inside his old sensei's laboratory. There were experiments all over the place and Sasuke's stomach fell ill just imagining if Hae Ra was inside any of those glasses.

''I expected more from you'' he started ''not being able to differ a human from a non-human is a joke''

Orochimaru smiled

''Oh your little daughter might not be a real human, but the chips inside her carry very special genes, Sasuke-san, yours. And once I use them on the army of bandits you've already had the pleasure of meeting, I'll have a full army of men with Uchiha genes for me to control!''

There was the sound of men coming to the laboratory - his old sensei had most likely informed everyone by now that there were intruders in the hidden base.

''Where is Hae Ra?'' he asked, impatiently

''Don't worry'' his skin started to distort as he started to reveal his snake form, his voice changing ''you'll be reunited with her soon''

Sasuke unsheathed his sword and got ready for battle.

.

.

.

''Is this really kusanagi?'' Sakura asked herself ''where's Sasuke?'' her heart skipped a beat. What if something had happened to him? She would never forgive herself, this was all her doing.

There was something off about that sword, though. It definitely looked like Kusanagi, but something told her things weren't right. Suddenly, she sensed a chakra presence right below her. Sasuke?

''Oh, to hell with it!'' she mumbled, her fists glowing green when she punched the floor, the precision so surgically that it opened a straight tunnel to the place below her, and she started to fall.

The floor where she landed had a very high roof, and it looked like a laboratory somehow, there were people and organs in formaldehyde all around her, the smell making her dizzy.

Her eyes widened when she saw chains coming in her direction. She did her best to dodge them, but it was to no avail, that was the perfect trap. She couldn't move.

.

Orochimaru jumped back to put some distance between him and Sasuke and dodged a Katon before a victory smile adorned his face.

''It seems I've captured another present for you, Sasuke-kun''

Sasuke's heart skipped a beat

 _Sakura_

.

Sakura's arms were glowing in green as she tried to use all her force to get rid of the chains that were trapping her, but that only seemed to make her strength get drained quicker.

''Sakura!'' she rose her head fast to see Sasuke on the other side of the big room, coming in her direction.

''Ah ah!'' Orochimaru emerged from the dark behind her and brought a weapon to her neck ''not a step closer, Sasuke-kun''

Sasuke stopped on the spot and cursed

''Now be a good boy and surrender, enter the chakra-proof cage on your right, will you?'' he asked, smiling victoriously.

''No, Sasuke-kun!'' Sakura shouted ''don't do as he says, you know he'll try to kill me anyway! I'm sure that-''

''I can take no chances, Sakura'' Sasuke interrupted her ''not with your life at stake''

He turned around and started to walk towards the cage, millions of thoughts about how to act coming through his mind, but what was the use? He couldn't risk getting Sakura hurt.

Sakura, on her side, was devastated, to say the least.

A burden, again.

She felt pain grow inside her and tears form in the corner of her eyes as she bit her lower lip.

It would be better for everyone if she just _didn't exist!_

Sakura screamed louder than anyone would've thought possible when the pain inside her became too unbearable, the walls around them starting to shake. Then, suddenly, her eyes became completely white and a strange light surrounded her body, until only a vague human form could be seen. The chains around her turned to dust and Orochimaru had to take a few steps back and cover her eyes so he wouldn't be blinded. When it was possible to see her again, she didn't look in the slightest like the Sakura from before: her whole body was tattooed with symbols that shone bright in white, her pink hair glowing and waving in the air as if it had come alive and her eyes completely white.

She charged at an incredible speed at Orochimaru, punching him so strongly his inner organs exploded and he would've died instantly had he not turned at the last instant into a snake and escaped to another room.

She rushed in that direction, breaking the walls on her way until she made it to the laboratory where Sasuke and Orochimaru had fought before.

''Fight me!'' she screamed, her voice sounding like it was echoing, before she ran to Sasuke's old sensei's direction.

Orochimaru acted fast to dodge the attack, turning into a snake and sliding through the floor until he was at a safe distance.

''Sakura?'' Sasuke called her, horrified by the sight in front of him

But Sakura paid no attention to him

She had someone to kill

She charged against Orochimaru many times, each of her attacks deadly, but none hitting him. If there was anything Orochimaru was good at, that was surviving. When the snake man finally understood he stood no change against the enraged Haruno, he finally decided to retreat.

Sakura was going to follow him, but Sasuke called her again

''Sakura, calm down'' he asked, approaching her with caution

She turned to him fast, ready to attack, but stopped

''Hey'' he came closer to her and held both her arms ''it's alright now, he's gone'' his voice was filled with uncertainty, but he tried his best not to let it falter ''you have to get yourself together now, this isn't you''

Sakura got rid of his grip

''No, Sasuke!'' she said angrily, and Sasuke was taken aback by the lack of the suffix on his name ''this is where it ends for him''

She was going to turn around to follow Orochimaru, but Sasuke acted faster: his arms wrapping around her waist from behind, his chin resting on her shoulder

''Please, stop''

Sakura's eyes widened as memories flooded her mind

Slowly, the symbols in her body started to spark less and less, her hair going down and losing it's bright, her iris reappearing in green.

She fell on his arms.

''What… happened…?'' she asked him, looking around in confusion

''You tell me'' he frowned ''but later, I know where Hae Ra is. Sent some clones to look around while I fought Orochimaru. Let's go free her'' he took her weak body in his arms bridal style and started to walk out of the laboratory.

.

When they found her, she was sitting on the floor hugging tightly one of Sasuke's clones, her eyes closed and her expression fearful.

''Hae Ra!'' Sakura called out, getting out of Sasuke's arms and stumbling her way to the small room where she had been held captive, earlier trapped on a table so she wouldn't move. Good thing they had arrived fast enough and Orochimaru had to stop his experiments to welcome them to his lair.

''Mama!'' Hae Ra got up quickly, tears falling from her eyes as she ran to her mother's arms. Sakura kneeled and hugged her tight.

''Are you alright? Are you hurt?'' she asked, searching her daughter's face and body quickly in look for any injuries.

''I'm okay'' she assured her, but then her face twisted and she started to cry ''I'm scared, mama!''

''Oh, sweetie'' Sakura hugged her tighter, her own eyes filled with tears. If anything had happened to her…

She felt rage growing inside her again as she remembered Orochimaru was still out there, and he could make another attempt like that at any time.

Sasuke's hand on her shoulder, though, made her muscles relax. He kneeled next to her and hugged both girls, his arms protecting them.

''I promise'' he started ''I'll never let anything happen to either of you again''

Sakura was still worried and scared, her heart racing after all that happened. But somehow those words managed to warm her heart, and she felt like things would be alright.

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.

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''Granny!'' Hae Ra exclaimed when Mebuki opened the door's house

''Oh my goodness, Hae Ra!'' Sakura's mother almost faltered when she started to cry ''oh my sweet child, you're back!''

Sakura looked up at Sasuke and smiled. To her surprise, he returned it.

''We'll have to leave her with you today, mom'' Sakura said ''Tsunade sama is furious with us and wants Sasuke and I at her tower right now'' she sighed, rubbing her neck ''I'm afraid this will last long'' she said.

''Please take good care of her, Mebuki-san'' Sasuke asked

Mebuki had never been too fond of Sasuke, especially because of everything he had made her daughter go through. But she had to admit that since Hae Ra came to their lives, Sasuke had looked so much like a real father it was endearing.

''She's in good hands, I'll make sure she eats dinner and goes to bed early''

Hae Ra froze

''Can I sleep with you today, granny? I don't want to sleep alone''

Mebuki looked at her and touched their noses dearly

''Of course you can, sweetheart''

Sakura sighed in relief. It had been a long day.

.

When they finally went back home it was already past midnight.

''Sakura, we need to talk'' Sasuke said when she walked through the living room, where he was waiting for her

Sakura felt a chill on her spine. Oh-oh

''Yes?'' she said, sitting on the couch next to him, but putting some distance between them.

''What happened at Orochimaru's hideout?'' he started ''I had never seen you like that before, your chakra was spiking like crazy and it increased enormously out of a sudden''

Sakura closed her eyes and tried to remember everything that had happened right before she felt that power rising inside of her.

''I don't know what happened, Sasuke-kun'' she admitted ''I was just… Scared… I might've lost Hae Ra and you… Then all those emotions became strong inside of me and suddenly I was being controlled by the anger I was feeling… I can't explain!''

Sasuke nodded repeatedly. After a while, Sakura found the courage to ask, a little upset:

''Why did you stop me?'' she asked ''I could've ended him for good''

Sasuke considered her face for a moment

''Your chakra signature'' he looked to the side ''It was getting less recognizable by the second, as if you were… not Sakura anymore''

Sakura's eyes widened in shock

''I couldn't let whatever that was consume you Sakura. I don't care about the consequences or whatever happens, I'll deal with it. I just can't-'' he stopped himself midsentence, biting his lower lip and looking to the side.

''You can't what?''

He didn't look at her eyes

''I can't lose you, Sakura''

She held her breath

''If I'm honest, I was scared to death'' he sighed ''I know how power can consume us and I was afraid it was too late, that you wouldn't come back to me''

Sakura couldn't utter a single word

Was this… a kind of confession?

Sakura looked down and shily reached for his hand

''You'll never lose me, Sasuke-kun. This I promise you''

Sasuke looked at her in the eyes, trying to decipher those jades

Then he smiled

''Good''

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.

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Back in her room, Sakura couldn't fall asleep. She had so many things in her mind.

When she glanced at the opened wardrobe, she saw the small box her aunt her given her. Quickly, she got up from bed and hurried to grab it. When she touched it, though, there was something different: the H started to shine brightly and a word started to be formed from it:

 _Hinode_

What did it mean? And why was it only revealed to her now?

There was a click and suddenly the box was unlocked.

Sakura inhaled deeply and opened it.

.

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* * *

I decided to update this chapter because when I was reading it again I noticed there was a part missing HAHAHAHAHAH I hadn't noticed it before, I'm sorry, it must have been a very confusing chapter

Thanks for your patience and for not giving this up S2

Big hugs!

.

Blackfan Diamond


	6. Chapter 5

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CHAPTER 5

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''Mama!'' Hae Ra cheered when she saw the front door be opened and Sakura walk inside the house

''Hey, darling'' Sakura kissed her forehead and hugged her tight ''did you sleep well?''

''Yes! Grandpa watched movies with me until almost midnight and popped some corn for us!''

Kizashi coughed and gave her with a serious look

''I mean…'' Hae Ra brought a hand to her mouth ''We went to bed very early, soon after dinner!''

Sakura looked at her father and couldn't help but to laugh out loud. He used to do that with her when she was younger too, and he would always make her promise not to tell her mother - although Mebuki always knew, of course.

''I'm glad you had a good night, little one'' she patted her hair ''I need to talk to your grandparents now for a second, why don't you go upstairs to play for a little while?''

Hae Ra nodded and ran upstairs to Sakura's old room, which had become Hae Ra's since she started to visit more often.

''Sakura, dear!'' Mebuki greeted her, a plate on one hand and the dish towel on the other one ''I wasn't expecting you here so early in the morning''

''I have something to talk to both of you about'' she said with a serious face, opening her backpack and taking the box out of it.

Mebuki's eyes widened and she almost dropped the plate, while Kizashi got up from the sofa and looked from one woman to the other with a serious face.

''This is my sister's doing, isn't it?'' his voice was still calm, as usual, but Sakura could sense he was angry.

Well, she had come looking for answers and she wouldn't leave without them!

''She gave me this box just before she departed again. I hadn't managed to open it before, but somehow yesterday I could'' she explained ''and I want to confirm some of the information I learned from the content in the box''

Kizashi sighed and lowered his head. Mebuki put down the plate and the dish towel, coming to sit next to her husband and patting his shoulder.

''I'll explain everything to you then, Sakura'' Kizashi said ''but you must know, that this is something that can never leave these four walls, do you understand? For all our safety''

Sakura felt a chill on her spine for a second. Were her suspicions correct? Why was it a secret though? She needed her answers

The pinkette nodded and her father began:

''Don't you find it weird that the Haruno clan is just the three of us? And your aunt?'' he asked ''You've never met anyone from my family's side other than your aunt, and we are never happy when she comes to visit, I'm sure you've noticed that''

Sakura swallowed hard and nodded

''The truth, Sakura, is that the Haruno clan is a camouflage. Your true name is Hinode Sakura, and I'm Hinode Kizashi. We come from the Village of the Mountains, a place so high in the sky that it's where the sun first touches the Earth''

Sakura was about to interrupt Kizashi, but he rose one hand and asked her to wait

''Let me finish first, my daughter. The Hinode clan was known for its control of an element of its own: the light. And this element conveyed the clan the ability to do great healings: there were no better doctors in the whole world than those who came from clan Hinode. Our energy comes from the energy of the sun, which is our source of power and of healing'' a flash of darkness crossed Kizashi's face when he added ''but, as usual, there were some of them who believed they could achieve more than the rest. They thought that if they didn't have to share the sun's energy with anyone else, their powers would increase significantly and they would become invincible, because they could regenerate each and every cell of their bodies. They wanted immortality'' he sighed ''there was a war and a man named Yoake destroyed most of the clan, absorbing their energy to himself. The rest about him, only legend tells. They say he became so powerful that he can heal any wound anyone inflicts him, but who knows. Your grandparents left with us when your aunt and I were young. I never told you this, but my father married a woman who wasn't from the clan, therefore I didn't inherit the clan's skills, but your aunt did. We may be twins, but she was born a powerful ninja and I an ordinary civilian, just like my mother before me. One day there was an attack. My sister managed to protect me, but it was too late: both my parents had been killed, all because of the Hinode clan. After Yoake, everyone thought it was too dangerous for one person to hold such power of unlimited healing. Only God can heal any wound and live forever. Therefore, they started to hunt us down, which is when my sister and I got separated: I wanted to hide my surname and live like an ordinary man, but she wanted to avenge our parents. Then the Haruno clan was born, in order to hide the truth about my past. Only your mother and your aunt knew the truth, and now, you too, Sakura. We never feared any harm would come to you because you never seemed to have inherited any power of that kind, that you were an ordinary - in the best way, my darling - medic-nin… But if you managed to open this box, I'm afraid you are much more than that''

Sakura's mouth was dry and she couldn't utter a single word. When her parents looked in her eyes she was crying.

''That's a lot to swallow'' she managed to say

Sakura wasn't sure if she was feeling emotional because of the story, happy that she had super powers yet to be discovered or upset. Upset because she had always been the worst ninja in Team 7. Yes, she was, there was no denying it. Naruto had the Kyuubi, Sasuke had his Uchiha blood, Kakashi was naturally awesome and there was her, the civilian, the weak. Had she known before she had such powers and had been able to learn how to control them, how many missions they wouldn't have failed? How many times she wouldn't have cried because she felt too weak? Too much of a burden to the team?

She was not weak, she carried a powerful clan's blood in her veins, and she didn't care if anyone came after her for her skills, she would defend herself. But she was sick of hiding. Sick of being the weakest in the group!

She remembered that child at the hospital, whose hand she managed to recreate. She wanted to do that again, that and much more.

''Mom, dad'' she started ''I understand why you are scared. But if I have such a power inside myself I can't simply _not_ _use it_ '' she tried to reason ''I want to do the best I can to help others using my powers! And I don't want to hide. If someone tries to hurt this family, I want to be able to protect it''

Kizashi and Mebuki tried the whole morning to dissuade Sakura and to convince her that it was safer to pretend nothing ever happened.

But who on Earth would discover they had powerful skills and simply pretend they didn't exist?

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''I'm almost finishing, Hae Ra'' Sakura promised, braiding her daughter's long hair ''there you go! Let me see how you look!''

The young girl turned to her and smiled. Sakura thought she was the most beautiful girl in the entire world.

She kissed her forehead

''You look perfect, sweetie! Now go play with your friends!''

When Hae Ra left running to meet two of her friends at the playground, Sakura took the box again and opened it. Inside, there were many letters and a few scrolls. Sakura took the first one and started to study it.

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''That's indeed impressive'' Tsunade said, her jaw dropped

Sakura had been practicing long-distance healing for two weeks already, and she had shown great results.

Bringing both her hands to her chest - when a blue and purple light would start to encircle her from head to toes - and then throwing her arms to the side and raising her head - when the lights encircling her body would go straight in the direction of her target -, Sakura was able to focus on one target at a time and heal them even without touching them.

''And that's not what's coolest'' Sakura smirked

She showed Tsunade-sama two different types of healing she'd learned during the past week, their only difference in casting being the color of the lights that encircled her while she cast the jutsu: one of them would heal wounds that were on her body at the time the jutsu was cast - although it only worked for superficial injuries; the other would provide healing for as long as 48 seconds, so whatever wound was inflicted on the person during that time would be immediately healed.

''Sakura, that's beyond wonderful! How are you able to do this? Teach me!''

Sakura then felt she needed to share her clan's history to her old sensei. After all that was Tsunade, she wouldn't tell anyone about it.

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''Mama?''

''Yes, darling?''

''Why does every one of my friends have a brother or a sister but I don't?''

Sakura opened her mouth and closed it again a few times, wondering what to say.

''Because mama and papa decided to have only you for now'' she decided to say after a while

''You know, I really would love to have a little sister to play with me, or even a little brother, I wouldn't mind if it was a boy'' she snuggled closer to her mama in bed.

''Perhaps in the future, sweetie''

''And why don't you and papa walk hand to hand when we go for a walk like other parents? Do you find it anti-hygienic?''

The pinkette giggled

''Sometimes I forget how smart you can be'' she took a lock of Hae Ra's hair and put it behind her ear ''my relationship with your papa is a little different than the one other parents have, that's all. But we still like each other and we love you, okay?''

Hae Ra made a face and thought about it for a second before nodding

Sakura sighed

''Do you want me to read you a story for you to sleep?'' she asked

''No,'' Hae Ra shook her head ''I just want mama to sleep with me today, I don't want to sleep alone''

Sakura smiled and turned off the lights, embracing her daughter and closing her eyes.

From behind the door, Sasuke listened to them until they were sound asleep.

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''No way, Hae Ra'' Sakura said with determination ''Forget it''

The young girl pouted

''But all of my friends are going, mama!''

''You're not any of your friends''

''But why can't I go?''

''Because I don't trust anyone to take care of you other than me, your papa and your grandparents'' Sakura explained ''a one-week trip with the other kids is out of question''

''I promise I'll behave!''

''That's not the point, enough of this subject!''

''That's not fair!'' she hit her little feet hard on the floor and Sakura thought maybe she was giving the young girl bad example

''Stop doing that, it's not how a lady should behave!''

''Mama does that all the time!''

''Mama can do that because mama is mama, now stop it!''

''But I want to go! I'll ask papa''

''I don't care what papa says, you're not going, end of discussion''

Hae Ra's eyes started to become watery

''Oh no no no, don't cry, Hae Ra!''

''haaaaAAEEEEEEEEEEE''

''Stop!''

''RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA''

''Stop right now!''

''AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA''

''Hae Ra, I'm serious!''

''AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA''

''…''

''AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA''

''Fine, you can go!''

Her expression turned suddenly from crying to completely normal again

 _This manipulative monster_

''I'll get my backpack, mama!''

''…''

 _Sighs_

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''No, no more sweets, leave it there!'' Sakura said, taking the trolley and continuing through the corridors of the market

''But, mama!'' Hae Ra pouted ''papa always lets me buy whatever sweets I want''

''Well, I'm not papa, I'm worried about your health and you're eating too much junk food lately''

Hae Ra started to stomp in frustration

''But I don't like to eat only fruit!''

''Fruit will make you grow healthier, so you're strong enough to play with your friends!'' Sakura retorted, choosing some apples from a barrel full of them.

Hae Ra rolled her eyes

''What's the use about being healthy if I'm unhappy?'' she jumped inside the trolley and started to play with the teddy bear she had picked up in the market.

Sakura rolled her eyes at the drama, but then she stopped for a moment. How long had it been since Hae Ra was activated? 7 months? This meant she only had 5 more months to live before she was deactivated.

Sakura sighed and, without saying a word, took the sweets Hae Ra had dropped next to the watermelons and put it inside the trolley.

Hae Ra smiled and hugged the packages.

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After three months of practicing the jutsus inside that box, Sakura saw her aunt again.

''It seems I was right about you'' she said, showing up in front of Sakura when she watched Hae Ra play in the amusement park that was visiting Konoha

''Oh my'' Sakura brought a hand to her chest and closed her eyes ''you scared me, aunt!''

Due to her ability to hide her chakra enough to seem like she wasn't even there, Hitori was used to scaring people when she did make herself noticeable to everyone around her.

She took Sakura's hand and analyzed it for a second, as if searching for something.

''You've been learning fast, child'' she said, proudly ''and I can teach you much more''

Sakura's eyes widened. Now that was something she was eager to listen to.

''Come with me'' Hitori said ''let's go to where I live and I'll teach you everything I know, each and every jutsu passed on in our clan. I've learned them all and I want to teach them to you, Sakura''

Jade eyes sparkled

''How long would that take? I would need to bring Hae Ra with me because she can't live without me, she's very dependent'' she pointed out

Hitori frowned

''Leave the doll behind, Sakura'' she said ''she has no powers and no abilities, she's wasting your time, that's all''

Sakura was taken aback for a second, then her face hardened

''She's not a doll, she's my daughter'' she corrected her

''You're wrong. She _is_ a mere doll, who's right now slowing you down and preventing you from achieving your full potential. If only she was your real daughter, then perhaps she could've inherited something from our clan and it would be interesting to have her grow up with us. But she isn't. She's just an experiment and would only slow you down during the 11 years of training you would need to finally understand what it means to be a member of the Hinode clan and to get full control of your powers''

Sakura got up

''I'll try not to feel offended by the way you spoke of my daughter because you are my aunt. But I'll warn you not to repeat what you said about Hae Ra. She is my daughter and I'd like you to treat her as such'' she said, trying to conceal her anger ''I have no intentions of going with you, I'll learn it all by myself and if I can't do that, then what I've learned so far will need to suffice. Now, if you'll excuse me''

Hitori looked angrily at Sakura as she turned her back to her and started to walk away.

It sounded like she would need to get rid of that doll if she wanted Sakura to come with her.

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.

.

It had been a couple weeks after Hitori showed up when Sakura was called to the Hokage's tower.

''I can't possibly leave in a mission'' Sakura's jaw dropped ''Hae Ra needs my help everyday when doing the homework''

Most importantly, how much of her daughter's life would she miss given a mission would mean she would spend at least a few weeks away? Hae Ra had only a couple more months to live…

''I know, and I'm very sorry'' Tsunade apologized ''but word has spread that a few members of the Akatsuki were spotted not too far from the village and you're one of the few in here who have ever fought against one. I need you, Naruto and Sasuke in this mission''

''The akatsuki?'' Sasuke raised an eyebrow ''I thought they were gone for good after the Fourth Ninja War''

The Hokage sighed

''Seems like a few remained'' she explained ''and'' she made a pause and inhaled deeply ''it seems Orochimaru was seen with one of them, who knows what that snake has on his mind''

Sakura felt her whole body shiver

If Orochimaru was with them, did that mean Hae Ra was in danger? What had he told them about her? Sasuke voiced her thoughts by saying:

''Last time we fought against Orochimaru he wanted Hae Ra because she carried mine and Sakura's genes, which he wanted for himself'' he started ''could it be he allied himself with them in hopes he would this time succeed?''

''This would mean Hae Ra is in danger again!'' Sakura shrieked, bringing both hands to the front of her body

''Who would've thought this whole Program would bring us so much headache'' Tsunade mumbled to herself

''The problem is not Hae Ra'' Sasuke said ''it's me Orochimaru wants, and now that Itachi's dead I'm sure the Akatsuki would love to find another Sharingan for themselves, one that's easier to get than me''

''But Hae Ra will never grow to awaken the sharingan, blast it!'' Sakura hit her right foot hard on the floor, making it shake

''Orochimaru told me last time we fought that it means nothing. The only things he needs are the chips and cards inside her to get my genes and be able to create an army with them'' Sasuke leaned against the wall ''I'm sure the idea would be beneficial to the Akatsuki too, you've seen what the last Uchihas among them were able to do''

Sakura froze

''First Orochimaru, not the Akatsuki wants my daughter too?''

''They won't get her'' Tsunade assured her ''but we need a plan and you need to go after them''

She made a pause

''And you need to bring Hae Ra with you''

Everyone's eyes widened

''What?!''

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* * *

Thank you for reading!

I was actually giving up this fanfic, I wasn't going to write it anymore, but I thought it would be very terrible of me to discontinue it considering there are some people who want to know what will happen next (at least I hope someone is interested in this hahahha)

So here's the newest chapter! I have so so so many doubts about it because I wanted to introduce a new Sakura, one that is as powerful as Sasuke and Naruto, given they have that Senju thing and all of that and I didn't want her to fall behind. At the same time, ehh I have my doubts about it.

I hope you like it and I'd love to hear what you guys think will happen next! If you don't feel like writing me a review you can just review a ''B'' and I'll love it tons xD

Thanks again for your time

Big hugs!

.

Blackfan Diamond


	7. Chapter 6

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CHAPTER 6

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''This is such a terrible idea'' Sakura said as she saw her and Hae Ra's clone next to Naruto and Sasuke

''Oh c'mon they look great'' Naruto said, he was the one who created the clones, so they didn't disappear once Sakura was far enough from them. And he was damn proud of those clones!

Although the plan wasn't the worst, Sakura thought perhaps they could've come up with a different idea. Their mission was simple: while Sakura and Hae Ra left Konoha and stayed out of the village, Naruto and Sasuke were supposed to find the remaining members of the Akatsuki and put an end to them. This way, they avoided fighting inside the village again - given the Akatsuki had been seen so close to the village, thinking they planned something like that was no absurd - and kept Hae Ra safe. Sakura lowered her chakra signature until it was almost imperceptible and took Hae Ra's hand.

''Say goodbye to papa, you won't see him for a little while'' Sakura said, pushing her lightly towards him

Sasuke, on his side, was as unpleased as the word unpleased went. He didn't want to leave Hae Ra and Sakura alone, he needed to be with them and protect them. Moreover, he too knew Hae Ra's time with them was coming to an end and he wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. Not only that, but he knew that as soon as Hae Ra was deactivated, Sakura would most likely move out of the Uchiha's District, and he wasn't sure he was prepared to live alone there again, without the happiness and light she brought whenever she was around. Although, of course, he would never say that aloud, so he only prayed somehow she would stay with him.

''Take care, papa!'' Hae Ra said, stretching her arms so he would pick her up. He hugged her tight.

''Behave. And do everything Sakura says'' he said. He didn't know what else to say, he had never been good at saying goodbyes: during his life either the chance of doing so was taken from him or he decided to leave without saying anything. He hated this.

Hae Ra nodded, then she glanced from Sasuke to Sakura in expectation

''Uhh'' Sakura started, uncomfortable ''take care, both of you, I hope we can be reunited again soon'' she nodded a few times, but Hae Ra wasn't satisfied

''Mama! You won't see papa for some time, that's all you have to say?''

Sakura blushed

''Uhhhh… Sasuke-kun?'' she rose her head, hoping he would say - or do - something to get them out of that situation

Sasuke smirked and took a step closer to her

Sakura held her breath

Then, with two fingers, he touched her forehead

''Maybe next time, right?''

Sakura blushed even harder and gulped, not knowing what to reply

But Sasuke wasn't waiting for any response. He turned around to face Naruto and the two clones.

''Let's go''

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After watching the four leave the village in pursuit of Orochimaru and the Akatsuki, Sakura sighed and turned to Hae Ra

''I think it's time we left also. We need to go as far from Konoha as possible and- What?''

Hae Ra was staring at her with a disappointed expression

''You and papa are in a very strange relationship, mama!''

Sakura rolled her eyes

''And you should stop meddling with our relationship, little one'' she brought a finger to her face ''I almost died back there when your papa said that''

Hae Ra giggled

''Mama really loves papa, doesn't she?''

Sakura took a step back and brought a hand to her chest. Why did her heart start to beat so fast?

She cleared her throat

''Let's just go before the night falls, we have to find a small town to spend the night'' she said with determination, grabbing her daughter's hand and starting to walk.

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''But I'm tired, mama, I don't want to walk anymore''

''Dear God, Hae Ra, we've been walking for only 10 minutes and in a very slow pace'' Sakura complained ''you can't possibly be tired already, I won't carry you until you've walked at least for 30 min, you need to learn what a ninja life is like''

''My legs hurt!''

She looked at her with a skeptical look

She was sure all she wanted was to be carried

''You can handle that, you're a strong girl''

''I'll start to cry'' Hae Ra threatened

''Oh don't you dare, Hae Ra, _don't you dare_!'' Sakura gave her an angry glance ''you're way too spoiled a kid''

The young one pouted and started to make a crying face

''Hae Ra, listen!'' Sakura stopped and kneeled next to her ''We're not at home anymore, we're outside of the village and it's very dangerous to be out here. If you start crying you'll only draw attention to us and you'll put us in danger'' she tried to reason

Hae Ra considered it for a second

''So you have to cooperate and behave, just like papa told you to do'' Sakura concluded, hoping that mentioning Sasuke would help

''Okay, but mama will carry me, right?''

''We already had this discussion''

''But, mama!''

''Hae Ra, no, 30 minutes''

She pouted again

''haaaaeeeeeEEEEEE''

''FINE'' Sakura shouted angrily, kneeling so she would give her a piggyback ride

''Mama is the best!''

Sakura rolled her eyes

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''I would like a room please, sir''

''Is she your daughter? What an adorable young lady!'' the inn keeper's wife said, getting closer to them. She was a chubby woman most likely in her forties, and she fell in love with Hae Ra as soon as they entered the small inn in the middle of the forest.

''She is'' Sakura smiled at her ''I mean, she is my daughter. I can't say anything about _'adorable'_ though''

Hae Ra made a displeased face

''Aw come with aunt Midori'' the woman said ''aren't you cute? Of course you are adorable, sweetheart''

Hae Ra glanced at Sakura from the woman's arms with a triumphant look

Sakura rolled her eyes

''I take it's your first child?'' Midori asked

''First and only!'' Sakura exclaimed ''I wouldn't be able to handle two of this stubborn little brat around''

Hae Ra pouted

''Mama is mean to me!''

Midori embraced her protectively

''Don't say that about your only child! There, darling, don't be sad, I'm sure your mom didn't mean that'' she patted Hae Ra's head and the little girl pretended to be deeply hurt

''I don't know who she took this personality after because her father is extremely calm and I'm an angel'' Sakura commented, raising her head high

Hae Ra giggled

''Mama is explosive and very stubborn too!''

''I'm not!''

''Yes, mama is!''

''How dare youuuuuu! I'm extremely calm and have great self-control'' Sakura huffed

''It feels like both of them are the daughter and none is the mother'' the innkeeper mumbled, holding his face with one hand and watching their quarrel.

''Fine, then I'm going to my room and you can stay here with miss Midori forever'' Sakura turned around and stomped to the corridor

''Mama, no! Wait for me!'' Hae Ra let go of Midori in a second and ran to Sakura's arms, jumping on her leg and hugging it tightly. Sakura smiled and kept on walking with Hae Ra still holding on to her leg like a little monkey.

''You are impossible, Hae Ra'' she said

Hae Ra smiled and hugged her leg tighter, affectionately.

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''Mama?''

''Hm?''

''Why did papa and uncle Naruto go on a mission and leave us behind? Don't they like us?''

Sakura opened her eyes. They were laying in bed, ready to sleep, and Sakura was humming for Hae Ra a lullaby when she asked her that.

''Of course they like us, sweetheart. It's just that there are some people out there who want to hurt us, and they had to go find them so they can protect you and I'' she explained ''they'll find us when the matter is solved, then we can go home again, but that might take a little while''

''Why would someone want to hurt us? Have we done something bad?''

Sakura thought about it for a second

''Some people just want too much power and don't care if they'll need to hurt others to get it, Hae Ra. Your father is a very, very powerful man, and there are people out there who would do anything to put their hands on his powers… He needed to go out on a mission so he could solve this for good and protect us, Hae Ra''

Hae Ra lowered her head and quietly nodded

Sakura just hoped all of this would end soon

So they could go back home

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Naruto and Sasuke had been traveling for 4 days until they finally found information about the Akatsuki's whereabouts

They had stopped in a restaurant to have lunch, Naruto, Sasuke and the two clones, when they overheard a conversation that was of their interest

''I'm telling you, the man was _this tall_ and wore a black cape with red clouds drawn on it, he was scary as death!'' a man exclaimed, trying to convey in words the fright the man he'd met had caused him

''I think you've been spending way too much time at the tavern, my old friend'' the other man laughed, shaking his head ''It's not the first time you say you've bumped into people like that''

''But it's the truth! I've met them twice!''

''And how come no one else came talking about this? It seems like only you saw them'' the man reasoned

''That's because I'm a hunter, I wander in these woods far more than all the rest!'' the first man explained ''And the place where I've seen them twice is farther from town, close to the waterfall that origins the river that crosses our village''

Sasuke glanced at Naruto, hoping he'd heard that information too

Naruto, though, was too busy devouring his meal to pay attention to anything else

The Uchiha snorted

''Dobe'' he called ''hurry up and finish your meal, I know where we're headed''

Naruto chocked in surprise, but then nodded frantically

''Finally! I'm ready for some action!''

Sasuke agreed

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''Is this the place?'' Naruto asked when they reached the waterfall

Sasuke nodded. They should be close now.

He activated his sharingan to watch closely their surroundings, trying to find something, anything, that would let them know they were on the right path

''It seems like there's something behind the waterfall'' he mentioned, and Naruto quickly ran ahead to check it

There was nothing there though, only a small cave with nothing inside.

''Sasuke, come here'' Naruto called

As soon as Sasuke stepped inside the cave he knew what was wrong

''A Genjutsu'' he said, forcing his eyes so his Sharingan dispelled the illusion and a path appeared ahead of him ''it's probable we're going to meet the Akatsuki on the other side. Are you ready?''

Naruto nodded and Sasuke glanced one last time at the two clones behind them

He couldn't lose

He would take care of his family

''Then let's end this''

.

It didn't take long until they found themselves surrounded by men in the familiar robes, there were at least 5 of them

But something didn't sound right

Sasuke knew each and every one of those had been killed if not during the last Ninja War, before that

How were they there again? This time, it wasn't an illusion

''We meet again, jinchuuriki'' said Hidan, standing in front of them

''Hello, Uchiha'' Deidara smiled maliciously at him

''This will be interesting'' Sasori commented from inside a puppet

Kakuzu and Kizame were both there too, looking at them with an evil smile

Still, Sasuke thought, Orochimaru wasn't there. And none of those members of the Akatsuki had ever been head of the organization.

It was only then he realized they had fallen into a trap

The real enemy wasn't there

The real enemy was after the real Sakura and Hae Ra

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.

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The sky was gray when they woke up, and Sakura had a bad feeling about that day

Still, Hae Ra insisted to go play with the inn keeper's kids, she said they had the best tree house and she needed to play with them. Sakura finally allowed it, deciding a couple hours of playing wouldn't kill them, and stayed in her bedroom reading a few scrolls while she waited

.

''Mama? Let's go?'' she heard Hae Ra call, opening shyly the bedroom's door and peeking inside

''Are you ready to go?'' Sakura smiled at her, putting the scrolls inside the box again and putting it inside her bag

Hae Ra nodded

''Have you said goodbye to your friends and to lady Midori?

''Mhm''

''Then let's go, I heard there's an amusement park not too far from here, I'll take you there and we can spend the entire day playing on every toy'' Sakura proposed, smiling mischievously at her ''we can even have strawberry milkshake if you want!''

Hae Ra smiled at her lightly

''That would be fun''

Sakura thought her response wasn't very typical, but perhaps she was only tired after playing so much?

''Goodbye, everyone, thank you for being so kind to us!'' Sakura bade them goodbye, taking Hae Ra's hand and walking outside the inn. They walked for a few minutes in silence until finally Sakura stopped in an open field, far from any town or small village.

''Mama? Why did we stop?''

Sakura's right hand closed in a fist and she turned around to punch Hae Ra strongly on the chest

The small body flew far from the other side until it hit a stone wall, then the clone was dismissed with a 'puff'

Sakura's face was full of rage, her heart beating fast

''Where's my daughter?'' she demanded

''I was hoping you would take longer to figure it out'' a voice said from all around her

''Show yourself, coward!''

She knew who was there

Orochimaru finally appeared from behind some trees, staring at her with yellow eyes

''Mind to tell me how you did it?'' he asked

Sakura snorted

''Hae Ra doesn't have chakra. As best as you tried to conceal your chakra from inside the clone, I could still sense it'' she smirked ''and Hae Ra would never have behaved so well for more than 5 minutes of walking''

Orochimaru spit on the floor

''Well, it changes nothing, Hae Ra is being taken to our hideout right now and there's nothing you can do about it. My task is to kill you so you won't be a hindrance to our plan''

Sakura smirked

''Why, I've never seen you so obedient, Orochimaru. Lost your fangs during our last fight?''

Orochimaru grunted loud and charged against Sakura, but he didn't get to get too close: Sakura punched the floor, creating a crater on it

They fell for long seconds until finally they reached the bottom of the pit. When the dust settled, Orochimaru saw that the triangle on her forehead was sparkling, then her eyes turned completely white and the mark on her forehead started to spread through her body in dark lines

''Tell me where my daughter is!'' she shouted, charging at him, her fists deadly if they touched him. Orochimaru used his snake body to escape most punches, but some hit him, breaking a few ribs

He ran towards her and attacked again, his snakes trying hard to bite her in any part of her body

All he needed was one bite to spread his venom

But Sakura wasn't about to let him have any chances

They fought for long minutes until Kabuto appeared and interrupted their fight

''The doll is ready, Orochimaru-sama, we need you at the laboratory''

Sakura's eyes gleamed in rage

''What have you done to Hae Ra, you bastard?!'' she was already possessed with anger, and without waiting for a reply, she boosted in his direction so fast he didn't even have time to think before he was suddenly thrown to the other side of the pit, his whole body hurting

''Sakura-chan!'' she heard a familiar voice call. When she looked to the side, she saw Naruto running on her direction, down the pit. Right behind him, Sasuke and the last person she expected to see, Itachi Uchiha, came running, a hundred white Zetsus following them

''What the h-?''she started, but Orochimaru soon engaged a fight with her again ''I need to know, though'' she managed to say in between attacks ''is Itachi on our side or on theirs?''

''On ours!'' Naruto screamed back, still running around as if lost, not knowing what to do with so many people inside the pit. Then he put his hands together and summoned many clones, starting to attack the Zetsus while Sasuke helped her against Kabuto

''Where's Hae Ra?'' he asked

''Uhhh'' she didn't know what to say, suddenly the anger dismissing and fear taking over her. Oh Sasuke would get so mad when he heard...

''They took her to the laboratory, but as long as they're both here no one can harm her there!''

''Who's 'they'?'' he asked, confused

It was only then Sakura realized Orochimaru was gone

''Holy sh-'' she cursed, closing her eyes and focusing on his chakra ''I'll go after him''

Without waiting for a response, she ran on the direction she _supposed_ he had run to

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She had to fight a few Zetus on her way - who seemed to be their new army - but finally she made it to the laboratory, adrenaline running fast in her veins as she wondered if Hae Ra was still okay

When she finally opened the door that led to the laboratory, she found Orochimaru with his back to her, someone laying on a table in front of him, unconscious

''Take your hands off her!'' she commanded, jumping on him to punch his chest, but he was quicker and dodged it

They fought inside the laboratory, chemical products and experiments breaking on the floor as they hit them.

Sakura threw a table on him and was ready to attack him again when she suddenly felt a big pain on her ankle. Looking down she saw a snake biting it, the pain spreading through all her body as so did its venom.

Orochimaru inhaled deeply - his energies depleted after the fight - and then he started to laugh

''Finally'' he said

Sakura felt her whole body be paralyzed and she couldn't move anymore. Her body fell on the floor.

''Of course, I need Hae Ra's chips to get Sasuke-kun's genes. But it will be much easier to have a woman's ovules to put the genes in if I want to create a whole generation of new children with the Uchiha's genetics'' he started to laugh louder ''and since our last fight, I was sure you would be a perfect choice. So don't worry, I'll keep you alive, I need your ovules to mix with his genetics. But I don't need you to be _awake_ for that'' he smiled maliciously ''as for your little doll, I'll have no use for her after I remove the chips, so perhaps she can go to the recycle bin''

Sakura's eyes started to close against her will

 _No, no_

She felt her body numb, her eyes closing even more as her strength weakened

 _''You'll never lose me, Sasuke-kun. This I promise you''_

Her eyes widened

 _''Good''_

No, she couldn't just give up here! She couldn't fail Hae Ra. Nor Sasuke-kun, who trusted her to take care of Hae Ra and to go after Orochimaru by herself. She had to save her, to save _them_ from this terrible fate, and she needed to go back to Sasuke-kun

Her Sasuke-kun

The man whose frozen heart started slowly to melt since she entered his life, and who needed her as much as she needed him

She would go back to him

Focusing on her body, she started to command each of her cells to fight against the venom, using her chakra to give her body enough power to fight it. She felt her chakra entering her circulation and fighting against each and every molecule of venom that was inside her body, and soon she was feeling capable of moving again

''This was the last time you tried to hurt my family, snake'' she said

Orochimaru, who had turned his back to her to focus on Hae Ra, looked back at her with surprise

The only thing he managed to think was 'Oh my' before he felt a punch hit him right on his jaw, throwing him to the other side of the room and breaking a few walls

When he managed to look at her again, her marks spread across her body were shining bright and her hair was flying behind her head again, her eyes sparkling and completely white. He could feel her chakra increasing enormously by the second, and he was starting to feel scared

She threw her arms to her sides and the roof above them was destroyed, letting the sunlight enter and touch her skin. Her feet left the floor as her body was pushed upwards, and her hair started to move wildly like tentacles, as if it was alive. Before Orochimaru had the time to think of anything, one of the locks extended itself until it was long enough to grab him by the neck and pulled him to her front

''This is where it ends'' she said, and putting one hand on his chest, she started to make each and every cell of his body grow older and older, the snake screaming in pain as his looks grew to be the one of an old man, until finally his body was too weak and he fell on her arms, dead.

Sakura threw his body aside and looked back at the table

Hae Ra wasn't there anymore

She cursed and screamed aloud, the whole building shaking with her fury. Then she jumped out of the hole she made on the ceiling and ran back to where Naruto and Sasuke were fighting.

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''Who…?'' Naruto asked, astonished, when she jumped inside the pit and landed next to him

''Sakura!'' Sasuke called, shocked

 _Not again!_

But Sakura paid no attention to him, she brought both hands to her chest and then threw them in their direction, a shield made of sun energy encircling their body. Sakura decided to give them support in the battle instead of fighting, she was a medic-nin, after all, she was going to behave as such! She used many of the new jutsus she'd learned to pull them next to her when they were in a dangerous position in the battlefield, and used long-distance healing to make sure the three people on her side were well. Of course, the enemies soon realized their only chance of winning would be if they took the medic down, so they started to aim at her, but all three men had her back, and whenever they couldn't act, her long hair tossed her enemies aside like tentacles grabbing objects and throwing them away.

Soon, the fight was over, but Itachi didn't lower his guard

''There's someone approaching'' he said

But there was nothing they could do, suddenly everything went white and they couldn't see anything

When Sakura opened her eyes again, she was alone, Naruto, Itachi and Sasuke were gone

And in front of her was aunt Hitori

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Thank you for readingggg!

Biiiiig hugs!

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Blackfan Diamond


	8. Chapter 7

This is dedicated to the 57 people who follow this story.

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CHAPTER 7

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''Aunt? What are you doing here?'' Sakura inquired ''Where are Naruto, Sasuke and Itachi?''

''Don't worry about them, child'' the woman in front of her said ''I made sure they won't disturb us''

Sakura frowned

''What are you talking about? What are you even doing here?''

Hitori slowly walked in her direction

''I'm giving you your last chance to change your mind and come with me, Sakura''

Sakura sighed

''I told you, aunt, I'm not leaving my village, my friends and my daughter behind, I'm happy as it is''

Hitori twisted her lips

''Then you leave me with no other choice''

Before Sakura had the chance to say anything, Hitori charged in her direction and started to cast a jutsu. Sakura barely had time to dodge when a bolt of light coming from Hitori's hand almost hit her in the arm. At first, she tried only to dodge and cry out her aunt's name trying to bring her back to her senses. But although Hitori seemed quite relaxed and even enjoying the fight, her attacks were serious, she did not mean only to hurt, it seemed, she meant to kill.

When finally Sakura decided only trying to defend herself wouldn't work, she concentrated chakra in her hands and charged in her aunt's direction too. The problem was that she failed to hit her in each and every one of her attempts: Hitori was just too fast, too smart, too strong. Sakura had never seen someone use the light attacks before - in fact, she only found out such thing existed recently -, and therefore each attack her aunt aimed at her caught her by surprise. Sakura's attacks, unlike her aunt's, were short-ranged, so she would need to get closer to her opponent if she wished to succeed in any of them. Hitori, though, was making sure Sakura didn't get that chance.

Sakura crushed the ground beneath her feet with a powerful punch and used the smoke that rose from it to prepare a stealth attack, only to be caught by the neck by her aunt, being lifted from the ground, struggling to breathe.

''You're still weak'' Hitori said, looking disappointed.

Sakura rose her right leg and managed to hit Hitori's chin, forcing her to release her grip on Sakura's neck enough for her to escape. She didn't waste another second and charged again at her aunt, taking advantage of the fact that she was now close enough to hit her with her glowing fists. Hitori didn't react as she was punched and thrown to the sides like a doll, until finally, after a few attacks, Sakura stopped and put some distance between them again, panting.

She was alarmed when she heard laughter. Still, Sakura's eyes showed little surprise when she saw each and every wound in Hitori's body heal in an instant, so fast that within a few seconds it was like she'd just started to fight.

''You're still weak'' she repeated. In a second, Hitori was close to Sakura again, pressing her body against a big rock, holding her so tightly by the neck that this time Sakura couldn't move an inch.

Sakura struggled to breathe as her grip grew stronger on her neck, and for a moment she felt dizzy, her vision going black.

''Grow stronger, Sakura'' she whispered in her ear ''and find me again during the next Lunar Eclipse. You'll know where'' a smile appeared on her lips ''and don't be late, or else your little doll will suffer''

Sakura's eyes widened when she heard those words

 _Hae Ra!_

But there was nothing she could do, in a moment Hitori was gone, and Sakura was returned to the same place she had been before.

''Sakura-chan!'' Naruto shouted, running in her direction with Itachi and Sasuke right behind him.

Sakura held her own neck for a moment, trying to breathe normally again.

 _What on Earth just happened?_

''What happened?'' she asked

''I don't know, you suddenly disappeared!'' Naruto exclaimed, exasperated ''We searched the whole area looking for you, and when we finally decided to come back to where you were last seen to try and find clues of your whereabouts, you reappeared, just like that!''

Sakura closed her eyes. So it was not a genjutsu, it really had happened.

''Are you okay?'' Sasuke kneeled next to her ''Where's Hae Ra?''

Sakura's hands closed into fists

''She took her''

''Who?''

''Hitori''

Naruto was confused

''Your weird aunt?''

Sakura sighed and nodded

''It seems like you were right about her, she was not who I thought she was''

''I think I need an explanation'' Itachi finally said, crossing his arms and frowning at the trio.

''You literally came back from the dead, I think _we're_ the ones who need an explanation here'' Sakura raised an eyebrow.

Itachi was taken aback for a second, then he nodded once

''I'll tell you everything I know''

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''When I first woke up from… death, I was in a dark cave. I was one of the first that was resurrected, after me a few more Akatsuki members followed, but not all of them, we were 6 in total. We never got to see the face of the person who resurrected us, they kept hidden at all times, resting. Apparently, resurrecting us cost a great deal to the person who did so, and we only received orders from a male voice, who echoed in that cave telling us what to do. It was obvious for me then that I was brought back to the world of the living by luck, because the person who did so didn't know anything about my true affiliation to Konoha. They never really told us what their true plan was, but they told us about Hae Ra and made it sound like it would be in our best interest to find her. This person had also pledged alliance to Orochimaru, it seemed, and he was working on finding ways to use Hae Ra's genetic material to create an army of people with both Sakura's powers and the Sharingan, which would supposedly make an invincible army- and I say supposedly because I'm yet to see the full length of your abilities, Miss Haruno. Our only true forbiddance, though, was that we were not to kill you, Haruno-san. Yet, we were instructed to fight you if need be, and use all our power to defeat you without killing you. Soon after all of this, Sasuke and Naruto found the hideout, and we were supposed to kill the two of you, for you were not only not part of the plan, but this was also supposedly going to help somehow. You didn't see me when you first arrived because I tried to reach the person behind all of this, in order to kill them. Alas, they were not there anymore, they vanished. I then fought on Sasuke and Naruto's side against the Akatsuki, but white Zetsus started to appear and blocked the entrance. When we finally managed to escape the cave, more of them started to appear, there were hundreds of them. Sasuke told us it was all probably just a distraction, and you and Hae Ra would be in danger, so we decided to simply forget about the Zetsus and try to find you. Luckily, we did, and that's when we met''

Sakura nodded

''This person behind your resurrection is probably aunt Hitori, she was behind all of this''

''Itachi said it was a male voice who gave the orders, though'' Sasuke pointed out

The pinkette bit her lower lip

''I wonder who that was… Maybe she has a sidekick or something that we're not aware of? I don't know''

When Sakura finally filled them with her own side of the story, it was already dark, and they had to set camp.

''Maybe we should go back to that inn then, we should find answers as to why Hae Ra was Hae Ra at a moment and then she was replaced at the next one'' Naruto suggested

''I doubt this would help now'' said Itachi ''As far as we know, Hitori has Hae Ra now, and the next Lunar Eclipse is only two months from today. You said she told you you'd know where to meet her, right, Haruno-san?''

Sakura nodded

''Yes, but I have no idea where that is, at least nothing comes to mind right now'' she sighed ''and something doesn't make any sense to me, why would my aunt want the Akatsuki to fight against me if she doesn't want me dead? And why help Orochimaru create an army? This makes absolutely no sense''

There was silence for a moment

''Perhaps she intends to kill them after the plan is complete and keep the army to herself? Perhaps attack Konoha after that?'' Naruto suggested

''For what purpose, though? As far as I know, she has nothing against Konoha''

No one said anything, each lost in their own thoughts

''It's pointless to discuss this now. I'm sure we'll find out everything in due time'' Itachi declared, getting up and walking away ''I'll take the first watch, the three of you should rest, and tomorrow we'll set out to find Hae Ra''

Sakura didn't want to sleep. Any second wasted was a second more Hae Ra was in Hitori's hands, being used as an experiment. There should be a way to reach her aunt before the Lunar Eclipse, it was still too far from now! On top of all of that, Sakura couldn't face Sasuke. She had promised to protect Hae Ra and she failed. Guilt dominated her.

Still, she had used up too much chakra that day, and her eyes were almost closing. Perhaps a little rest would do her well. Itachi was right.

She was almost falling asleep when she heard someone whisper:

''I'm glad you're back'' Sasuke said

She was about to turn around to respond when she realized those words weren't meant for her

''Me too'' Itachi replied

There was silence for a few minutes

''How does it feel? To be back?''

Itachi sighed

''To be honest, it feels like I was never gone. As if I was sleeping for a long time and finally woke up. The living know they will die, but the dead know nothing at all''

''I thought there was… something waiting for us… after we die''

Itachi thought about it for a second

''Whatever your hand finds to do, do with all your might, Sasuke, for there is no work, nor planning, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave''

Sasuke nodded and crossed his arms

''We have much to talk about too''

''That we do. But not tonight, Sasuke'' he placed two fingers on his forehead ''maybe next time''

For a second, Sasuke didn't know what to say. Then he smirked and rubbed his forehead, before nodding and taking his place close to the fire to sleep.

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 _''Mama! Look what I've drawn!''_

 _Sakura put the dishes down and looked as Hae Ra came running through the kitchen, showing her a scroll_

 _''What's that, honey?'' she tried not to get angry at the fact Hae Ra had drawn on one of her medical scrolls_

 _The young one scowled_

 _''Mommy, that's a swan on a lake! How come you didn't get it?''_

 _Sakura looked at the scribbles on the scroll. That definitely didn't look like a swan on a lake_

 _''You're right, Hae Ra, how come I didn't see it? It's beautiful!''_

 _Hae Ra smiled smugly_

 _''I'm going to be an artist just like uncle Sai when I grow up!''_

 _''Oh you will?'' Sakura smiled ''then go practice some more, you'll have to try hard if you want to draw as well as him!''_

 _Hae Ra nodded, smiling_

 _''Can I draw on the scrolls inside your wardrobe?''_

 _''Uh… Draw on the ones in your dad's chest''_

 _Her daughter giggled and ran upstairs to get the scrolls_

Sakura got up from bed fast

''Hae Ra…'' she whispered

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It was the middle of the night when Sasuke woke up because of a strange dream. When he looked to the side to check if everyone was okay, Sakura wasn't there.

 _Damn it_

Naruto was awake, it was his shift. He looked at Sasuke with a straight face, then pointed with one finger in a direction.

''Itachi and I can go back to Konoha to report the mission. Go after her''

Sasuke didn't need any more incentive. Standing up, he grabbed Kusanagi and ran in that direction.

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Sakura had been running for almost one hour when suddenly someone appeared right in front of her, and had she been a different person, she would have run straight into him.

''Why are you here?'' she asked, visibly annoyed

''I'm coming with you''

''If I wanted company I would have asked for it, not sneaked out in the middle of the night, don't you think?'' she crossed her arms

''I don't care whether you want it or not, I wasn't asking for permission'' Sasuke stated ''I'm just informing you that I'm coming along, whether you want it or not''

Sakura growled, stepping closer to him

''This is all my doing, so _I'm_ going to make things right, I don't need anyone 'coming along'. Go back to Naruto and Itachi, I'll bring Hae Ra back''

Before she could walk past him, Sasuke took her by the arms, lowering his head so they were on the same level

''Are you done? I know you're angry, but none of this is your fault, Sakura. No one could predict Hitori's real intentions. Hae Ra is _our_ child, and we are going to bring her back together, like the family that we are''

Sakura's eyes widened and Sasuke realized what he'd just said. He looked to the side, uncomfortable, and released her arms, clearing his throat.

''What I mean is… You did say you wanted us to be a team. And we are a team, you and I. We're going to make things right as such: together''

Sakura smiled, and her arms started to rise to hug him. Then she reminded herself Sasuke didn't really like these things and stopped, dropping her arms again. Sasuke, though, had taken notice of what she'd intended to do, and before she could say anything, he pulled her into an embrace. His arms were loose around her, so she could push him away at any time.

But Sakura didn't do that. Instead, she placed her arms around his waist and pressed her face against his chest.

''You are right. I'm sorry I tried to do this without you''

Slowly, he released her and nodded

''So where are we headed?''

She smiled

''North''

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Hey

*dodges from rocks*

I'M SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO UPDATE THIS

I'll tell you what happened: I lost completely my imagination. I didn't write down the whole idea for this when I first thought about it, and I forgot what I had in mind ;-;

Moreover, I received a PM that criticized KMP heavily, so I was kinda upset /: I really like to write, but it got unbearable to do so after that, I felt terrible. Then, after a few months, I received a review from jhall7299 and I decided: there are 57 people following this story and they deserve an ending, shannaro!

So here is the next chapter :D

I'll try to update more often, I promise. I'll TRY.

Thank you so much to everyone who's read this fic so far! I promise I'm doing my best, and I'll try to finish this soon

Big thanks to my best friend Caio for supporting me and hearing me complain at all times because of this fanfic.

Big hugs!

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Blackfan Diamond


	9. Chapter 8

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Chapter 8

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''You think the answer is in this book?'' he asked when they first stopped to eat

Sakura opened the box Hitori had given her all those months ago and took a book from inside it.

''This book tells the story of the Hinode clan, and it says the location of the place where they once lived, the Village of the Mountain'' she explained ''We're going there, maybe we can find some answers and learn of a way to defeat Hitori, so when the day of the Lunar Eclipse comes, we are ready''

Sasuke nodded

''And where exactly is this place?''

Sakura turned a few pages of the book

''It shouldn't be too far from here, the instructions in the book are not very clear but it doesn't sound too hard either: ' _Green meets white, unusual flowers grow where it is dark. The sea is brought to land when the fire goes down_ ' it says''.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow

''I'm not quite sure what it means'' he admitted ''but starting by 'green meets white', what could that be?''

''So, you remember the Land of Tea, where we had that mission with Idate-kun? Their flag was both green and white, I was hoping that was the place. It's north from here, which is why we are heading that way''

Sasuke wasn't eager to meet Idate again, especially since he knew the man used to have a crush on Sakura. But well, what could he do? North it was.

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They had just approached the gate that led them inside the main village of the Land of Tea when two men blocked their way

''Halt! Where are you from and what's your purpose here? Speak!'' the first one said

''We are ninjas from the Hidden Village of the Leaf, we are here to speak with an old friend of ours''

The two men exchanged looks

''Do you have a pass? Only those who hold a pass can walk in and out of the Land of Tea, it's the new law''

''I'll show you my pass'' Sasuke growled, unsheathing Kusanagi

''Sasuke!'' Sakura exclaimed, holding him by the arm

''What's going on here?'' a familiar voice said. Sasuke lowered his arm and Sakura sighed in relief: the last thing they needed was to cause unneeded rivalry between Konoha and the Land of Tea ''Wait! Sakura-san?!''

''Idate-kun!'' Sakura exclaimed, running in his direction and stopping right in front of him ''Wow, let me look at you, it's been so long!''

''Tch'' Sasuke didn't bother to hide his discontentment with that meeting. He had hoped they would manage to find their way _without_ needing to bump into Idate.

''Sakura-chan, you look more beautiful than I remembered!'' he began ''Your eyes look greener and your hair is so long now! You look bewitching!''

Sakura laughed nervously and put a lock of hair behind her ear

''I'm flattered, thank you''

''Idate'' Sasuke greeted, approaching them

''Oh I think I remember you too! I just can't recall your name…?'' he brought a finger to his chin and thought hard

''This is Sasuke, Idate-kun, he too was on that mission with you all those years ago'' Sakura explained

''Sasuke! That's right! Welcome, both of you'' he smiled warmly ''Are these guys giving you trouble?'' he pointed to the two men behind them, who instantly froze on the spot.

''They were saying something about a pass?'' Sakura said

''Oh nonsense! These are friends of mine, the lord of this land! They can come in and out whenever they want'' Idate said, putting an arm around Sakura's shoulder and leading her inside the gates. Sasuke grunted and followed. ''I'm sorry about that, I was totally against it, but we've been having some problems lately and we need to make sure only trusted people and citizens can enter the capital. But tell me, what brings you here?''

Sakura was about to ask him how on Earth he became the lord of the Land of Tea, but Sasuke was faster:

''We are looking for 'unusual flowers' '' he said, trying to cut the conversation short. The sooner they got their answers, the sooner they left Idate's side.

'''Unusual flowers, uh? I don't think I know what you mean by that, but perhaps you can talk to our Botanist, an old lady called Mrs. Yumire, she should know how to help!''

''Great! Where do we find her?'' Sakura asked

''She's north from the city, she lives in a small wooden house. I tried to convince her into moving to the capital but she keeps insisting that-''

''We'll find her. Let's go, Sakura'' Sasuke grabbed her arm and pulled her

''But- Hey!'' Sakura tried to complain, but something in Sasuke's deadly eyes made her shut up and just do what he said, leaving a clueless Idate behind.

They were already out of the city when he released her

''Care to explain what all of that was about?'' She crossed her arms, still walking on his side

''We just have no time to waste'' he said, hoping that would be a good enough answer for her.

Sakura considered it for a second.

''You're right. Let's fasten our pace''

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They waited in front of the botanist's house for a couple of hours, but there was no sign of her.

''Perhaps it will be more productive if we try to find her'' Sakura said, sighing

''We have no idea where she went''

Sakura gave him a mocking look

''She's an old lady, Sasuke, how far could she have gone? C'mon, follow me''

They walked for long minutes north when the air started to feel colder than the usual, even for winter.

''It's getting cooler here, right?'' Sakura murmured, trying to make conversation ''I hope it doesn't- Oh Sasuke, look, it's snowing!''

When Sasuke looked up, he saw clouds over their heads and a few snowflakes falling from the sky. As they headed even more to the north, the grass started to be replaced by white snow, as it snowed heavier.

''Oh my, Sasuke! Look!'' she pointed at the grass under her feet, partially covered with snow

''What?''

''Green meets white, _this_ must be the real place!''

Sasuke looked around them. There was just no way any flower would grow there, especially since the snow was getting heavier by the second.

''We should find a place to find shelter, Sakura, a winter storm is coming''

''Maybe we can find the flowers now! Let's keep looking!'' she ignored him, continuing to run on the snow even more to the north.

It was only when Sakura couldn't see anything in front of her because of the storm that she finally decided it was indeed time to find shelter.

''Hey, Sasuke'' she shouted so he would listen to her as she kept walking ''I think we-'' she didn't manage to finish her sentence, because a large amount of snow from the top of the mountain near them fell right on top of her, burying her under the snow.

''Sakura!'' Sasuke shouted, trying to dig in the snow to find her, but he too couldn't see anything because of the storm.

When finally he found her hand in the middle of the snow, he pulled it and brought her to his arms

''I hurt my leg, let me just heal it'' she said

''There's no time, climb on my back, I think I saw a cave over there, let's go''

They had just entered the cave when another load of snow fell from the mountain, this time blocking the entrance. They were trapped inside.

''Just wonderful'' Sakura murmured as she healed her leg. Sasuke found a piece of wood and wrapped a piece of cloth on it, using Katon to light the torch.

''I'll see if there's an exit on the other side of this cave, you stay here'' he said

''I'm totally not staying here in the dark while you go out there alone, I'm coming with you!''

''Wait, look over there'' Sasuke pointed at something rising from the ground, a few meters ahead of them ''is that…?''

''A sunflower'' Sakura kneeled next to it, it was still small, but it grew beautifully, even though it was in a dark cold cave ''how did this end up here?''

''There are more''

When Sakura followed Sasuke deeper into the cave, she saw many sunflowers growing everywhere, from small ones to ones bigger than some trees. Even when there was snow or ice under them, they rose like the environment was perfectly suitable for them.

'' 'Green meets white, unusual flowers grow where it is dark'! This is it!''

They kept on looking around at the sunflowers for a moment when finally Sakura broke the silence:

''Is it just me or are they all facing that direction?'' she asked, pointing at the other side of the cave

''I think so too, let's go there''

They walked up the mountain following the sunflowers trail until, finally, they reached its top, where, to their surprise, the sun was still shining and there was absolutely no snow.

 _Strange_ , Sakura thought, but decided against bringing this up. Instead, she picked up the book again:

'' 'The sea is brought to land when the fire goes down' it says''

''There''

When Sakura looked up, she saw the sun was setting on the horizon.

''Now we wait then''

Sasuke sat on the grass

''Now we wait''

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As soon as the sun was gone, Sakura felt something was different. Suddenly, something started to glow right in front of her, as small as a seed, and when Sakura got closer to it she recognized what that was:

''A jellyfish?''

''There's another one there'' she looked at the same direction Sasuke was and she saw there was a slightly bigger one floating in the air a little farther from them. Many more started to appear, of many different sizes, some blue, some purple and some green, glowing in the air as they moved from one side to the other. Northern lights danced around them, going the same way the jellyfish seemed to be heading to.

''The Village of the Mountains'' she whispered ''It's here, Sasuke!''

Ahead of them, there was a devastated place. It wasn't even close to Konoha's size, it was at least 10 times smaller, and the buildings were mostly destroyed. The ones that were still standing, though, were built in harmony with the mountains and the vegetation: rocks and trees grew in between the houses and even in the middle of the buildings, and big mushrooms grew all over the place, glowing brightly, serving as street lights. Small glowing plants and jellyfish flew freely in the village, giving life to that dead place. Some animals made of light ran in the mountain and in the middle of the trees, only to disappear like they were never there. Sunflowers could be seen everywhere, and they all seemed strong and beautiful.

One single yellow jellyfish approached Sakura and stopped right in front of her, tilting its bell to the sides as if trying to recognize the person in front of it. When Sakura tried to touch it, though, it glowed brighter and split itself into many small jellyfish, that flew closer to the ground making a trail for them to follow. They led them to a big half-destroyed house, the main house in the village. There was a big symbol on the wall right in front of the main entrance: Sakura recognized the Haruno's circle in the middle, but around it there were rays of sun painted in yellow and in the middle it was brown, making it look like both the sun and a sunflower.

The door, though, seemed stuck, it wouldn't open.

''Damn door'' Sakura said as she tried to use some force to open it, to no avail

''Sakura, look'' Sasuke called her, pointing at the sunflower symbol on the door. A light appeared and faded from its center repeatedly, like it was trying to maintain itself and failing ''Perhaps if you…?''

Sakura quickly placed her hand on the symbol and started to make chakra flow into it. She jumped back when suddenly the whole flower was bright, and its light started to spread over the door in thin lines, running through the whole building. Suddenly the door flung open.

Sasuke and Sakura exchanged glances, then finally stepped inside.

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The hall was completely furnished, but walls, window sills and everything else was covered in dust.

''I feel uneasy here, let's do what we must and leave'' she whispered, walking close to Sasuke and looking around troubled

''Maybe there's something in the book that could help?'' Sasuke suggested

The pinkette quickly grabbed the book from her backpack and tried to find a place with light to put it. She soon found a pedestal in one room, on the upper floor, in which some rays of the light coming from the mushrooms outside entered from the cracks on the ceiling. She placed the book on the pedestal and stepped closer to it.

She turned the pages of the book, but it was enormous and it would take forever to find the information she was looking for.

''Perhaps there's an index in the back'' she said to herself.

There was none.

On the last page, however, there were a few words written with a beautiful handwriting:

 _What is it you seek?_

Sakura leaned closer to the book and said:

''I want to learn more about Hinode Hitori''

When Sasuke raised an eyebrow and she realised she had just spoken to the book, she laughed nervously.

The ground and the ceiling started to shake and it felt like the house was about to fall apart. Then suddenly it stopped

''Weird'' Sakura said, looking around her. When she got closer to the book, she cursed: ''Damn it got full of dust''

As soon as she blew the pages to clean them, though, the letters written on them started to shine and move, coming out of the book and encircling her. ''Sasuke?'' she cried out

''Sakura!''

Then everything went dark.

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* * *

Short chapter, ik

But there will most likely be another one on Sunday ~ Yaaay!

Thank you for your support and for still reading this!

Big hugsss!

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Blackfan Diamond


	10. Chapter 9

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Chapter 9

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When Sakura opened her eyes again she was laying on hard ground.

''God, this hurt'' she complained, sitting down and rubbing her head with one hand. When she opened her eyes, though, she noticed things around her seemed much bigger than before

 _Did everything get enlarged?_ She thought, until finally she realized it was she who had gotten smaller

''What the…?'' she started to say as she noticed the clothes she was wearing: a white dress made of silk, a leather belt and strips holding the dress on the shoulder, and leather boots ''Maaaan, this dress with _these_ shoes?!''

She rose her hands and noticed they had gotten smaller too, the size of a children's. _What could possibly have happened?_ She thought, then stood up and walked around the room she was in, trying to find a mirror. There was none. There was, though, a large wooden door which probably led outside. Without thinking twice, she pushed the door open and stepped outside.

There was a fountain a few meters ahead of her, and she ran to look at her reflection. Long pink hair, check! Big forehead, check! Rosy lips, check! Blue eyes? What was that? And why did she have the face a child?

''Hitori, come! You'll be late!''

Sakura suddenly felt alarmed and was ready to attack her aunt again when the child who had said that came and took her by the hand

''C'mon, they're waiting for you!''

 _Okay so this is really strange_

It took only a few minutes until Sakura realized she had somehow become Hitori. And that she was 6 years old. The place around her, that seemed both familiar and strange at the same time, was the Village of the Mountain, but back in its glory days: there were waterfalls with crystalline water, sunflowers growing all around them, the sun shone brightly in the sky, jellyfish flying everywhere even during the day, and what seemed weird to Sakura: things that should be inanimate moving around and doing things by themselves.

She would've loved to walk around and discover new things, but that child insisted they were in a hurry to meet someone.

On their way, they bumped into a kid with spiky pink hair - it seemed like everyone there had hair of some shade of pink

''Back off, loser, you're in our way!''

Sakura felt sorry for the poor guy, but had no chance to do anything, she was taken to a place where an old man seemed to lecture a few children.

''Hitori, you're late on your first day'' he said, unpleased ''I thought this was important to you''

''I…'' she started to think of an excuse ''was… playing… with the jellyfish''

The man shook his head disapprovingly

''Well, from now on, choose a different time to play with the jellyfish, classes are of utmost importance''

''Yes, sir''

''Very well. Today you're going to learn the basics of Light control. Do you see the candles spread across the room? I want you to light them up using your power. The seals are the following…''

On one hand, Sakura wanted to hurry back to meet Sasuke, she didn't belong in that place - wherever that was -, but, on the other hand, she was damn curious about how this Light control worked, she had just practiced healing jutsus that far.

She was concentrating on a candle in front of her and performing the seals when something struck her

''Sensei, shouldn't light the candle be something a person with the Fire element be able to do instead? Because you know, you light a candle with fire, not with light''

''Light is a fire derived element, Hitori. Tell me, what are the sun and the stars? Big fire balls. And have we got any better examples of things that emit light?''

''You mean to say that everyone who has the Fire element can control the light?''

''Can any botanist recognize a rare plant? Can any doctor perform a big surgery? No, child, only those with special abilities can control something as specific as the Light''

''But everyone who controls the light can control the fire element, then?''

The sensei nodded

 _Now this is getting interesting!_

Filled with new determination, Sakura concentrated even harder on the candle in front of her, but before she was able to perform the first seal, the candle lit up.

She looked to the sides prepared to shout at the person who had lit up _her candle,_ but there was no one around her, even the professor was away, helping another child.

She sighed and put out the candle, ready to start again. Once more, as soon as she concentrated on the candle and recited the jutsu on her mind, before performing a single seal, the candle lit up.

''Sensei, there's something wrong with my candle'' she complained, crossing her arms like a child. Well, she was a child again, wasn't she?

''Show me''

She repeated the same process and for the third time, the candle lit up without her even moving her hands.

''Impressive'' her sensei said, looking astonished from Sakura to the candle then back to Sakura ''Hitori, you can perform Light jutsus without using seals, just like your father''

She looked again at the candle

 _Now am I not impressive?!_

During the rest of the day, the other children tried to learn how to light on and put out candles using their jutsus, but Sakura was taken to a different room, with the teenagers, to learn even harder skills. They looked down on Sakura until they found out she could perform jutsus only by reciting them on her head, when they began to ask her to teach them.

''Hitori, you're amazing!'' one of them said

As soon as she heard him call that name again, realization struck her: that wasn't her. They kept calling her Hitori all the time, and she was suddenly 6 years old: perhaps the book had taken her to the past? Perhaps all she was living was Hitori's life before the massacre?

 _And here I thought I was amazing, but in the end, it's all just my aunt_ she thought defeated.

Still, she played her role well and pretended she was Hitori, at least this would help her find more about her aunt. At the same time, she worried about how she would get out of that place.

There should be a way out

Right?

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That night, she sneaked inside what that kid from earlier told her to be her house. It was a modest building built out of wood. Small, but cozy. She was almost reaching the stairs to get to the second floor - where she guessed the rooms were -, when someone called her

''Hitori, where are you going? Come, dinner is ready'' a female voice said

Sakura turned around and slowly made her way to the dining room.

Had she been invited to a banquet? There was so much food on the table they could feed at least 8 more people.

The room was beautifully furnished and everything was spotlessly clean.

''So, how was your first day?'' the woman asked. When Sakura looked up at her, she saw a woman with brown hair and honey eyes smiling warmly at her. She had beautiful features.

''I… uh…''

''Sis, you're home!'' someone shouted and hurried to hug her, pressing their cheek against hers. When they stepped back, she saw a boy the same age as her with spiky pink hair and green eyes. It was the boy from earlier!

''Dad?'' she asked, blinking fast, not believing her eyes.

The boy tilted his head

''Dad is not home yet, Tori'' he explained, confused

 _Right, I'm Hitori, not Sakura_

''I'm sorry about earlier, I didn't recognize you, brother'' she tried to explain. Gosh, she had bumped into her dad earlier that day and didn't even recognize him! What a terrible daughter she was.

''It's fine, you were in a hurry'' he lowered his head, seeming a bit sad ''How was your first day? Ah! I so wish my powers would awaken soon too! Then I'll show all those bullies that I can be a powerful ninja too!'' he punched the air a few times, smiling with a determined look.

Sakura smiled weakly at him. _Oh, Dad…_

The woman seemed to share Sakura's feelings, she looked at him with sad eyes. Then she shook her head and smiled again

''Well, perhaps we should wait until your dad comes back home for you to tell us how your day was, I'm sure he's also eager to hear everything!''

Sakura nodded, taking a place on the table. Kizashi sat right next to her, looking at her with bright eyes.

''You show them, sis! Show them how amazing our family can be! And when my powers awaken too, we'll both punch everyone who bullied me!''

''Kizashi!'' the woman exclaimed ''you know you shouldn't hurt your colleagues, they should all be your friends''

''They bully me, mom!'' Kizashi complained ''only because my powers haven't awakened yet. They say they never will because you're a foreign and not a member of the Hinode clan'' he lowered his head, playing with his cup ''it can't be true, I want to have powers too'' he pouted.

''Uh… Mom? Is someone treating you badly?'' Sakura asked

The woman sighed

''It's the usual, darling. I'm the only person from outside the Hinode clan in this village, so they… don't like me very much. I'm sure they treat me the best way they can, though'' she said, looking down.

So this was it. Because the village only had people from the same clan, they disliked everyone who was different, most likely thinking they were superior.

 _What terrible people,_ Sakura thought, feeling sorry for her grandmother. She knew her dad would suffer the same way if he stayed in the village, he already was.

Before she could say anything, though, she heard the front door shut

''Aiya! Hitori! Kizashi! I'm home!'' someone said

''Daddy!'' Kizashi jumped from his chair and ran on the man's direction, jumping on his lap ''You're home, finally!''

''Yeah, hard day this was'' he admitted, taking off his ninja equipment and placing them inside a wardrobe ''But enough about me! How was your day, son?''

Kizashi shrugged

''The usual, was throwing some kunais today and trying to see if my powers awakened! I'm improving, daddy!''

''I'm sure you are'' he patted his son's head ''What about my little girl? How was your first day, sweetie?''

For some reason, Sakura felt a warm feeling in that family. Maybe because it was, indeed, her own family: those were her father and her grandparents. So, she told them everything eagerly, not forgetting a single detail.

She learned though, by the time her grandfather gave her a goodnight kiss on the forehead, that he too was suffering because of his choice of wife: it seemed like everyone in the village treated him like some kind of traitor for having married someone from outside the clan. The Hinode seemed like a very closed group of people. How did she learn all of that? It started when the banquet ended up not being a banquet at all: it was an illusion made by light that her granddad had set up so they could always pretend they were having a banquet, when in fact they had only soup for dinner. When she dig more into the situation, she found out her whole family was somehow hated by the rest of the village, and they ended up becoming one of the poorest families there, even though ''poor'' in the Village of the Mountain wasn't as bad as it was in Konoha.

Sakura hated everyone for that. It was her family, damn it!

She was so outraged because of that, that she decided to train like there was no tomorrow. She would become the best ninja in the entire Hinode clan.

She swore it!

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Time flew while she was there.

On her first four weeks, she learned the basics of Light and Fire jutsus. She was learning so fast the professors were even scared, and on the first week, she was already training with the adults. Sakura couldn't help but to feel like she was finally becoming as strong as Naruto and Sasuke when she was there, for a moment even forgetting this was all her aunt's abilities and not hers. Well, she too was from the Hinode clan! Perhaps she could cast all those jutsus too? She truly hoped so, because she was already getting used to beating up all her friends with the power of her jutsus, both Light and Fire ones.

 _I wish Sasuke-kun was here to see this,_ she thought smugly

Her new favorite Light ability was ''Shining Circle'', a jutsu that would allow her to cause damage on all people within 5 meters from her, causing a light explosion that would knock the enemies down and send them flying a few meters back, giving her enough chance to evade and put some distance between her and the enemies again, so she could go back to healing her teammates or prepare to cast new jutsus from afar. The more chakra she gathered before releasing the jutsu, the bigger the damage caused was, and if she had gathered enough chakra, she could even release a second explosion after the first one, causing even more damage.

Aurora Dance was a skill that would increase the damage of any of her jutsus by 100%, but it only lasted 15 seconds and it prevented her from using any healing jutsu while it was activated, which was something Sakura had to keep in mind when casting in, for 15 seconds were a pretty long time in a battle, so her timing to activate that skill would need to be very good.

Hikari was what Sakura thought to be the equivalent to both Chidori and Rasengan: her hand would be encircled by light magic, that she could either use to attack from afar - shooting rays of light - or use to attack at short-range, piercing through the enemies bodies with sun power. She learned too how to use the Sun's energy to help replenish her own chakra - although she needed to stay still for it to work -, and learned that her Light attacks dealt more damage during the day.

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On her fifth and sixth weeks, she learned skills that would help her become a more efficient healer. One of the first healing skills they taught her was one she already knew: purple and blue lights would encircle her and cast a healing aura on the target that lasted up to 48 seconds, healing but superficial wounds - that was called Blessing of Lionheart, she learned. After that, she learned how to cast the same skill but that caused the target to have their deepest wounds healed completely, but that lasted only 1 second: Blessing of the Purehearted.

The jutsus she learned after that were area jutsus: Chromatic Healing would behave just as Blessing of the Purehearted, but would work on all targets within 20 meters from her - which was a pretty useful skill, but used up a bunch of chakra.

Healing Circle would throw a circle of light on the ground a few meters ahead of Sakura, and whoever was - or got - inside the circle while it lasted, would be healed. Similarly to that, she could cast a circle around her that reached up to 16 meters from her and healed everyone who was inside it, but it only lasted 3 seconds.

Sakura learned how to summon what she liked to call Ragnarok - because according to her that was the end of her enemies: a skill that would increase movement speed, damage, endurance and resistance to knockdowns, as well as increase chakra restoration by 50% on all allies within 20 meters for as long as Sakura casted the jutsu. The limitation, though, was that it used up a bunch of chakra and Sakura couldn't move while she casted it, meaning she was vulnerable to attacks. The longest she managed to hold the jutsu was 4 seconds, but she was determined she would manage to hold it for a longer period of time!

Another useful skill she was taught was Chakra Charge, a skill that would create a light pulse under her feet that reached 10 meters, and whoever was inside the circle when she casted it had their chakra restoration accelerated for 20 seconds. What was different about this skill was that she was able to move while casting it, and her movement speed was increased 5 times while she casted it, meaning she could run in the direction of her allies while casting the speed - which was vital because the longer she casted the jutsu the faster and the more efficiently the chakra restoration worked, helping the allies restore more chakra within those 20 seconds.

Kami's Shield would absorb 100% of the damage taken on up to 5 people including herself within 18m for 5 seconds, but it could only be casted once every 5 minutes, so the timing to cast it should be perfect.

She also learned how to create Light Auras around her allies, that lasted 15 minutes and would increase their defense against both Taijutsus and Ninjutsus, absorbing partially the damage they took.

She was taught how to cast jutsus that would purge harmful effects from everyone she casted the jutsu upon, canceling any genjutsus or attacks that caused continuous damage on them; and that would summon a few spheres that took most of the damage from incoming attacks, protecting the target.

Sakura finally learned what all those Jellyfish were about: during the day, she could use a jutsu that would summon a few of them around her, and they would both heal her and her allies continuously with their tentacles, as well as provide faster chakra restoration; at night or where there was no sunlight, they provided energy to cast Light Jutsus. When the jellyfish were flying around her, they would wrap themselves around her with their tentacles whenever she used healing jutsus, making the jutsus more efficient and providing more light energy for her to keep casting them - which was extremely useful especially when casting Ragnarok, because it would double the number of seconds she was able to hold it.

She learned many skills during those days, and she knew those were not everything she could do: there would be many more to come.

And she couldn't wait

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It was the morning of the day that started the seventh week when she was woken up by shouts coming from outside her room.

It was Kizashi, who ran into her room and jumped on her bed, shaking her to the sides.

''Tori! Today you're going to learn how to summon animals using Kuchiyose no Jutsu! I so wish I could come with you!''

 _Oh yes I had almost forgotten it,_ she thought

Because she had learned to summon Katsuyu from the Fifth Hokage, she didn't know how she was supposed to _find_ the animal she was going to summon.

When she joined the adults who were learning with her, her sensei gave her a map and a list of animals known that could be summoned, she was to choose from one and go to where such animal lived to try and make a contract with them.

Sakura was taking a look at the list as she walked outside of the village when someone ran into her, making her fall on the ground

''Hey, watch where you're going!'' she complained. When she looked up, though, a shiver ran through her spine

''I'm sorry, child. Can I help you up?'' a pale, thin and tall man, with light pink hair, purple eyes, a thin face and long teeth smiled at her.

Sakura felt the air grow colder

''I can get up by myself'' she replied rudely, getting up and continuing on her way, but she sensed purple eyes staring at her back

 _What a weird man_

.

''Alpacas, Antelopes, Bats, Bears, Buffalos, Crows, Deers… Eagles… Foxes… Horses… Monkeys, Ninkens, Ninneko, Owls, Salamanders, Sharks, Slugs, Snakes… I want something original!'' she complained ''Toads, Tortoises… Weasels, and there is something else here… A genjustu hiding something? Pff, this is Sakura Haruno, my people! The master of canceling genjutsus, how dare they try to hide something from me using this worthless thing!'' while holding the scroll with one hand, she made the seal with the other one, canceling the genjutsu that hid some words: ''Wyverns, winged serpents. Wait, are these the same from the legends? I thought they were extinct thousands of years ago! Maybe that's why they crossed their name out with a genjutsu? But why write it down then? I think this is worth investigating!''

When Sakura entered what the scroll said to be their territory, she found herself completely alone. It was a mountainous area at the level of the sea, and some active volcanos were throwing lava into the air, that fell close to the ocean and turned into hard rock. The sky and the lava that fell from the volcanos, though, were green.

''How do they let children come to such dangerous areas'' she said to herself. Then she reminded herself that she was actually not supposed to be there.

She decided to stop under a dead tree to have a snack before continuing on her journey when suddenly the ground started to move.

 _An earthquake, really?!_

She lost her balance and fell on the ground, her water bottle made of glass falling from her backpack and breaking.

''Just wonderful'' she said. The few rays of sun that managed to pass through the clouds hit the glass on the floor, reflecting in the air. When Sakura finished collecting the pieces - for she was not one to leave trash behind! -, everything started to become darker.

''What happened to the sun?'' she turned around annoyed, only to scream when she saw that it was a big body that had blocked the light, and she was on its shadow.

She shouted loudly in fear and fell on the ground, looking up at the big creature in front of her: it was like an enormous serpent, with green scales all over its body, only two strong legs and big wings that were spread wide open. It growled and came closer to Sakura, sniffing her.

The pinkette froze on the spot, not daring to move an inch. When she heard the flutter of wings behind her and on her right, she started to pray for Kami-sama that her death was quick.

At the same time, was she not the best explorer in this world? She found the wyverns!

''Look what we have here'' she heard a ferocious voice say ''A human cub''

''You're far away from home, little one'' another one said

 _At least they can speak, meaning I can talk them into not eating me_ , Sakura thought, hope rising inside of her. She stood up and faced the green wyvern.

''I'm Sak- Hitori. Hinode Hitori''

''Oh, a child from the Hinode clan'' the wyvern on her right said ''interesting''

''I'm… here to sign up a contract with you, so I can summon you'' she affirmed

The wyverns looked at one another and started to laugh

''And why would _we_ want to be summoned by _you?''_ the one at her back said, pushing her with its snout, making Sakura fall on the ground.

''Many have tried, but none has managed to leave this place alive. Let alone with a contract'' the red one said ''what makes you think you're different?''

 _So this is why no one has ever spoken again of the wyverns,_ Sakura thought to herself, _whoever enters their lair is eaten_

''I don't know. I'm here because I want to find out what I can do for you, and what you can do for me in return''

The green wyvern in front of her lied on the cracking ground beneath it, seeming impatient

''The last time we trusted a human, thousands of years ago, we lost something very dear to us'' it said

''What was that?''

''Our fire'' the red one spoke, coming closer and lying on the ground too. Soon, there were more than ten wyverns around her, of many different sizes, looking at her in expectation. Why had the big ones not eaten her yet, they thought.

''Your fire?'' Sakura was confused ''I heard you breathe fire, does it mean you don't anymore?''

The green and the red one exchanged glances

''We used to'' the red one said ''thousands of years ago we were the most powerful beings on land, nothing could be a match to us. Until one day, a human appeared. This happened right at the start of the Era of the Ninjas, when humans were still discovering how to control the elements of nature. A ninja, who had no element whatsoever, but wanted to rule a land, offered us an alliance. But he deceived us and stole our fire, and therefore the element Fire was born among humans, and until this very day, some humans such as yourself can control the Fire element. Without our fire, we became weak, and hid in the mountains, and have stayed here ever since, forgotten, for no one cares about fallen creatures. We only exist in your legends nowadays''

Sakura rubbed her chin

''You are still the biggest carnivores that walk on land and fly in the skies, couldn't you rebuild yourselves?''

''Losing our fire meant losing our identity, cub. We exiled ourselves as a way of reminding ourselves not to trust humans again, and a way to protect ourselves''

Sakura felt sorry for the enormous creatures in front of her, they seemed so powerful, but inside were broken.

''There's a way we can both be benefited here'' she started to say ''I have the Light element, which is a Fire derived element, meaning I can also control the Fire. What if I lend my fire to you? This way you can breathe fire again, and use my Light power too, and in exchange, you'll come when I call and help me in my battles''

''Will this work?'' the red dragon stood up, suddenly feeling excited about the idea.

''I've never done this before, but it's worth trying, I guess'' she shrugged

''Enough!'' a big stormy voice resounded in the air. The wind became so strong that even though she tried to protect herself with her arms, it still made large cuts on her skin. When the wind stopped and she could finally see again, a huge wyvern appeared, at least 4 times the size of the biggest one that was talking to her before, with black scales and red eyes. It roared so loud that for a moment Sakura thought she had gone deaf, until after a few moments she was able to hear again

A few of the wyverns that were around her fled away, while the ones that stayed bowed when the black one stepped closer to where Sakura was. It roared again, this time right in front of her face, and Sakura did the best she could not to show fear, she stood her ground.

''Impressive, human cub'' it said, its voice dark ''but you're not fooling anyone here. They failed to tame us in the past and decided to send a cub to steal what was left of us?''

''I'm not trying to fool anyone, I made my purpose clear'' she replied defiantly, crossing her arms.

The wyvern growled

''You speak like a grown-up, but you're but a cub. What are you?''

Sakura felt a shiver on her spine, then suddenly she lost complete control over her body.

'' _I'm Hinode Hitori, and I'll prove to you my worth_ '' her mouth spoke against her will, and her hand moved forward, charging and attacking the wyvern in front of her with Hikari.

 _What? Nooooooo!_ Sakura thought

She then regained control over her body, but it was too late, the wyvern was enraged. It spread its wings and tried to attack her, but Sakura dodged every attack, trying to put some distance between them. When she realized only dodging would take her nowhere, she started to attack it too, using rays of light and fireballs to try to hit the creature in front of her. Its scales, though, proved themselves impenetrable, and they blocked each and every attack she aimed at the wyvern.

Sakura jumped back and healed herself, sand all over her body, and as soon as the wyvern approached her to try and bite her, she used kawarimi no jutsu to appear behind him, right after casting Aurora Dance and Shining Circle, so her attack would be even more powerful. The wyvern received the damage and this time it did hurt it, making it roar loud in pain. It turned around, enraged, and its tail hit Sakura, sending her far away until she hit her back on a mountain. She felt a few ribs break, but she couldn't use any healing skills while Aurora Dance was activated, so she had to deal with the pain. When she looked up, the wyvern was right on top of her, about to charge at her once last time.

 _Not good!_ She thought as she prepared to receive the attack

Sakura remembered her father. He needed her. Or, better saying, he needed Hitori, to protect him.

 _And when my powers awaken too, we'll both punch everyone who bullied me!_

What kind of person would she be if she gave up now? No, Hitori would never give up a fight, so neither would she!

Gathering chakra inside of her, Sakura screamed loud, almost as loud as the dragon's second roar, and she felt energy coming to the surface of her body.

Symbols started to be tattooed on her entire body, shining, her pink hair glowing and waving in the air as if it had come alive and her eyes completely white. She rose her hands, gathering sun energy, and a big ball made of light started to be formed between them. She screamed and attacked the wyvern with it.

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When finally the dust settled, Sakura approached the wyvern, fallen on the ground, and put a foot on top of it. She turned to the other ones, who had been watching.

''Anyone else?'' she asked with an echoing, powerful voice.

The wyverns looked at each other and then slowly bowed.

''You have proven your worth, Hitori-sama'' the black wyvern said, bowing too ''We'll accept your offer''.

Sakura nodded once, then came back to her normal form, of the 6-years-old Hitori.

They signed the contract with blood, and as soon as Sakura climbed on the back of the black wyvern and shared her chakra with it, it roared loudly and breathed fire into the air. The other wyverns followed, roaring loudly and each breathing fire of their own.

On every corner of the world, wyverns' roar could be heard.

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* * *

As promised, a new chapter today yaaay (:

Thank you for reading this ~ ! I'll most likely come back with another chapter only next weekend now :3

Big thanks to my bff Caio for being so patient with me and supporting me at all times to keep on writing! You rock, booooi

Big hugs, everyone!

.

Blackfan Diamond


	11. Chapter 10

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Chapter 10

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On her eighth week, she learned how to cast Inochi no Jutsu: a skill that would allow the caster to bring inanimate objects to life and control them for a limited amount of time. She had the best time dressing training dummies as real soldiers and fighting them with her new jutsus, as well as fighting other children's constructs with her own. The best part was to get help while doing the chores: all she needed to do was give life to the broom, the buckets, the brushes, and other cleaning materials and make them help her while she cleaned the house.

 _Mom would love this,_ she thought to herself

Sakura could give life to up to three small objects or one big one for as long as one minute, then she would have to cast the jutsu again if she wanted the objects to continue living.

She also learned how to create big illusions using Light projections, and did she have fun doing that! The only problem was that the illusion appeared to everyone in the area, unlike genjutsus, that happened inside one's head. But Sakura decided she could live with that problem.

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On the ninth week, there was a massacre.

''Hitori! Kizashi! Quick, this way!'' their mother screamed, taking them by the arm and running through a hidden passage under the house that led outside the village.

''What about daddy?'' Kizashi asked

''He's going to buy us some time, we need to go!'' she hurried them, running through the tunnel then through the woods until they were far from the village.

When finally they were far enough for it to be safe to stop and catch their breath, Sakura asked

''What is going on?!''

''Yoake. He gathered some men and attacked the village'' Aiya shook her head ''I don't know the details, but we must run, run far away from here''

''Will daddy find us?'' Kizashi asked, worried

Aiya kissed his forehead

''Let's pray so''

They heard the sound of people tracking down someone and resumed running, trying to get as far as they could from the village. Someone shouted:

''It's just the civilian family, leave them be, let's go get the others!''

Sakura's heart was pounding as they ran for dear life.

They found a family that took them in in a small village far away from their home. It was an old couple, and they offered them a room and warm clothes. Sakura was thankful they found them.

A few days after the massacre, their father showed up, almost dead. The old couple took him in too and Sakura healed him, and on the same day, he was almost as good as new.

''Yoake, that bastard!'' he cursed

''What did he do, daddy?'' Kizashi asked

The man sighed

''It's time the two of you go to bed'' he led them to the bedroom and kissed them on the forehead ''We'll go find another place to live tomorrow, we can't keep bothering Mr. and Mrs. Hurae''

Of course, neither Sakura nor Kizashi slept. Instead, they glued their ears on the door and tried to listen to what their parents were saying.

''He kidnapped or killed everyone and absorbed their energy. He said he didn't need to share the Sun's energy with anyone else, and that by absorbing the people's powers he would become the greatest healer in this world, so powerful he would never die'' the man said ''I can't believe this is happening''

Aiya started to cry

''All those people we knew, dead'' she cried ''This can't be''

When Kizashi started to cry too, Sakura hugged him

''Is he coming after us too, Tori?'' he asked ''They can't hurt our family!''

''They won't'' she promised him ''I'll protect you, brother, and Father and Mother will too''

Sakura knew how this ended

Still, she prayed, prayed with all her might that things ended up differently

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A few weeks passed, and they were already living elsewhere. Sakura's grandfather started to build a house for them, with Kizashi eagerly helping.

Although the massacre was still rather recent, soon things were settling down, and the incident was starting to worry them less.

Until one day, when the house was already completed, while they were all asleep, Sakura woke up alarmed.

There was someone outside the front door.

Slowly, she walked in that direction, only to see her father had woken up too and was doing the same thing. He looked at her and nodded. When Sakura opened the door quickly, he already had a light ball in his hand ready to use.

It was the old man who had helped them before and his wife.

He lowered his arms, canceling the jutsu, and Sakura relaxed too. She had expected the worse.

''Run'' the old man whispered, before the couple fell on the ground, dead, a hole on each of their backs, bleeding.

Before Sakura could take in what was happening, many ninjas entered the house and attacked her grandfather.

''Protect your brother!'' he shouted

Sakura quickly ran into the room she shared with Kizashi. He was already awake, sitting on one corner of the room holding himself tightly.

''We need to go!''

She tried to punch the wall to make a hole and escape, but she didn't have her inhuman strength: she was Hitori, not Sakura.

The bedroom's door flung open and their mother was thrown on the floor, a hole in her chest, her eyes staring at the emptiness.

''No!'' Kizashi screamed, falling on the ground

Sakura quickly charged against the closest enemy and used her jutsus to try and kill them, but they were much stronger than she was.

''Kizashi, run! Run!'' she shouted when she heard the sound of a body fall on the floor and saw her grandfather die in front of her. She used Shining Circle to repel her enemies so there would be enough room for Kizashi to run using the front door. He ran, ran as fast as he could, and hid in the woods.

Sakura screamed loudly, feeling her whole body burn as it started to shine brightly and the rune marks appeared on her skin, her eyes shining white and her hair being brought to life, killing the enemies that approached her. She shouted and the whole house fell to the ground, killing a few of the enemies. She flew on the sky, her hair spreading like tentacles as she tried to gather energy from the life around her.

A ninja tried to use a fireball jutsu on her and she absorbed it, returning his own jutsu, burning him alive.

When her feet touched the ground again, she finished killing each and every one of the ninjas there.

Suddenly, dozens of ninjas appeared around her, and she had to fight each and every one of them alone. The fight was unfair, not because it was dozens versus one, but because it was her against everyone else: she was just too powerful for them. She dodged the last one's final attack, and placed her hand on his neck, breaking it. Suddenly, an attack came from in front of her. All of her hair went to her front to block the attack and she was about to shoot a fireball at the enemy when suddenly she felt something trespass her chest. The world around her shattered as the illusion was broken.

Looking down, she saw a big rune glaive glowing with light energy in her chest, blood all around it - her own. She returned to her human form and fell on the ground, defeated.

When she looked up, she saw purple eyes.

''You showed yourself fierce, child'' he chuckled ''I was hoping you were something special, I had to open you up. But like every other human, you're just meat inside after all''

Sakura felt the last of her strength die, and even though she tried to heal herself, it seemed like the rune glaive was preventing her from using her powers.

''The last one'' the man said, his hand coming down to reach her neck

'' _You are wrong''_ Again, Sakura's mouth spoke without her meaning to.

Her entire body started to shine, and from it came a ball of light, which flew into the forest and disappeared

''NO!'' the man shouted

Sakura didn't know what had just happened, but she smiled

And closed her eyes.

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Sakura felt her body be thrown back and hit a wall, the ceiling trembling as dust fell on top of her.

''Sakura! Are you okay?!'' Sasuke asked, kneeling next to her and helping her sit down.

''My head, oh my, it hurts'' she rubbed her forehead with one hand ''What happened?''

''You disappeared for a few minutes, then suddenly resurged from the book and was thrown against the wall!'' he explained ''You tell me, what happened?!''

Sakura looked up at the book on the pedestal, then explained everything to Sasuke, from the start.

''You mean to say I was only gone for a few minutes?'' she asked after she was done. ''It was months inside the book''

Sasuke shook his head

''Only a few minutes, then you were back here. So you managed to find out more about your aunt? Do you know how to defeat her?''

''I do'' Sakura affirmed ''I think I do''

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''Sasuke'' she called him when they were outside of the Village of the Mountain, on an open field close to the Land of Tea's main town again. It was still dark.

Sasuke halted and looked back at her

''Yes?''

''I need to try something''

She bit her thumb and placed her hand on the ground.

''Kuchiyose no jutsu!''

There was a big smoke and a huge black wyvern roared loudly.

''What the-'' Sasuke exclaimed, looking up at the big creature with the mouth opened

''As I thought. Hitori is my aunt, her blood runs in my veins, I can summon her wyverns''

The big black creature came closer to Sakura and sniffed her

''You are not Hinode Hitori, but I can sense her presence in you'' it said

''I'm Haruno Sakura. Or Hinode Sakura. I'm your master too, can I count on you?''

The black wyvern thought about it for a second, then nodded.

''As long as you keep the same offer Hitori gave us''

Sakura nodded too

''We have a blood contract, I shall not break it. C'mon, Sasuke, let's go'' she said, and the wyvern lowered itself so she could climb on its back.

''You never cease to impress me, Sakura'' he smirked, following her. He took a place behind her on the big creature and wrapped both arms around her waist, making her blush.

''Eh, let's go'' she commanded the wyvern

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Irumi was happy that day. He had just bought an ice cream on that warm, sunny day, and it was Neapolitan ice cream, his favorite.

He was just walking outside of the ice cream shop when the ground started to shake.

 _An earthquake in Konoha?_ He thought, worried. _That would be a first!_

Suddenly, the sun was blocked and a big shadow covered everywhere around him. He looked up, alarmed, and saw a big, big creature coming his way.

He shouted and pointed at the creature, being followed by many other citizens. The creature was getting closer and closer, and as soon as he crouched on the floor, a big wyvern flew right above the roof of the houses close to him, making its way to the Hokage tower. He watched until the big creature landed on top of the tower and two ninjas jumped from it, one with pink hair and one with dark hair.

Then suddenly, in a puff, the wyvern was gone, just like that.

Irumi looked down at his Neapolitan ice cream, which had fallen on the ground because of the wind that came along with the creature when it flew over him.

Irumi was having a bad day, he decided.

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''Tsunade-sama!'' Sakura called, opening the door to the Hokage tower

''For the nth time, can you knoc- Sakura!'' she exclaimed, getting up from her chair and hugging her apprentice ''I was so worried about you!''

''We need to talk, Tsunade-sama'' Sakura said, with a serious face.

''Sure, sure. Sasuke, out'' she commanded him

Sasuke was taken aback

''You mean I can't hear what you have to say?'' he inquired Sakura, crossing his arms

''I'm sorry, Sasuke, but no. Don't throw a tantrum, please''

Sasuke huffed, offended, then turned around and left the room.

''So, what is it?'' Tsunade asked

''You'd better sit down''

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After they were done talking, they called Naruto, Sasuke and Itachi inside.

''Are you sure you want me to listen, Tsunade-sama?'' the latter asked when he understood that was a private meeting

''You died for the Village in the past and did everything you could to protect it even during exile. You're a trusted ninja from the Village, Itachi'' Tsunade offered him a warm smile ''We are gathered here today because Sakura told me what happened in her trip with Sasuke to the Village of the Mountains, and we should want to try and predict Hitori's next moves if we are to defeat her''

''After all, they were after an army according to Orochimaru, so what if she decides to attack Konoha?'' Sakura pointed out

''True, we must be prepared for that'' Sasuke agreed

''Wait, why would she attack Konoha? I thought she was after Sakura and Hae Ra'' Naruto asked, confused

Tsunade leaned against her table, thinking hard

''If she has the same ambitions as Yoake, the man who wanted to become immortal, she will try to come to me''

All eyes were on her, attentive to her every word

''During my time practicing to become a Medic-Ninja, I found some scrolls that once belonged to the Hinode clan, one of which is the scroll that teaches how to perform jutsu that makes one immortal, given the caster has enough power to perform such jutsu''

''And it's from this box of scrolls that she found a jutsu to always look young'' Sakura added, receiving an angry look from her sensei ''Sorry''

''Sakura is right. There were many jutsus related to ultimate healing, rejuvenation and immortality in those scrolls. Therefore, I hid them in my secret vault here in Konoha, so no one ever touches them. Only I know the vault's location and the key to open it''

''And where is it?'' Naruto asked

''Under the hospital. Meaning that if there's an attack, I want all of you to protect the hospital's area with your lives, for it is of utmost importance that these scrolls don't fall in Hitori's hands. Understood?''

''Hai!'' they all said

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''Dad!'' Sakura exclaimed when she saw her dad open the front door, a few seconds after she knocked ''I missed you so much! Let me look at you!''

Sakura took in every detail on her father's face. He looked so much like when he was 6. He had suffered too much, she thought to herself, hugging him tightly.

''I'm glad you're back, darling'' he said, smiling at her ''where's Hae Ra?''

Sakura sighed and told him the entire story.

''So you've seen it all'' it was his time to sigh ''And Hitori did that, did she? I wonder what has happened to my dear sister'' he looked down, holding his head with both his hands ''God, why did things end up this way?''

Sakura patted his back

''Don't worry, dad, I'll make things right. This I promise you''

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That night, Sakura stayed in Hae Ra's room. She cleaned it, put everything in place and laid on her bed.

She missed her like crazy.

''Hey'' she heard someone say from the bedroom's door.

''Hey'' she greeted Sasuke ''how long have you been there?''

''Long enough'' he replied sitting on the bed next to where she lied ''How are you feeling? It was a long day, especially for you''

Sakura sighed

''I keep thinking, is she okay? Did they hurt her? I can hardly rest thinking about all that''

''I know, me too'' Sasuke admitted ''I'm sure she's fine, though''

Sakura looked up at him

''How can you be so sure?''

He offered her a smirk

''Look who her parents are'' he said, smugly

Sakura chuckled and sat down on the bed

''You're really not going to tell me what you said to Tsunade earlier?''

Sakura shook her head

''Sorry, no''

Sasuke frowned

''Why? If it's something related to Hae Ra, or Hitori, I need to know''

Sakura stood silent for a moment

''I just gave her some instructions, in case things go wrong''

Sasuke raised an eyebrow

''What do you mean? What could go wrong?''

She sighed

''The enemy we're facing is not an easy one to defeat, Sasuke. I just worry that… I might not be strong enough. In that case, we need everyone to be ready''

Sasuke stared at her for a second, then his face got serious

''I'll be there with you, nothing bad will happen''

''You don't know that'' she retorted ''we may be running straight into a trap''

''It will be okay''

''What if it won't, though''

''It will''

''But what if not!''

Sasuke snorted

''Why are you being so pessimistic out of a sudden? Did something happen that you're not telling me?''

Sakura lowered her head

''You didn't see what I saw, Sasuke. Our enemy is just too strong. I'm just… scared. Scared I won't be enough, scared I'll fail Hae Ra… and you''

Sasuke considered her for a moment

''Hey'' he lifted her chin ''You're not really doubting yourself, are you? You're the strongest kunoichi I know, Sakura. If someone can do this, I'm sure it's you. I believe you can''

Sakura's eyes sparkled

Was he… acknowledging her? Finally?

She looked at him with determination

''I won't disappoint you, Sasuke-kun!''

Sasuke's eyes widened a bit

''Sasuke-kun, huh? It's been a little while since you last called me that''

Sakura shrugged

''I'm a moody person, sorry not sorry'' she winked

Sasuke chuckled, then he got serious again

''Sakura, I was thinking. While you were Hitori, inside the book, you learned how to perform a few jutsus, right? Does this mean you can perform them as Sakura too now?''

Sakura thought about it for a moment

''Most likely, I guess, but I would need to practice a little. Hitori was a genius, she learned jutsus extremely fast, I wonder if I can do the same''

''You can'' Sasuke said ''I'm yet to meet someone with a better chakra control than you''

Sakura pushed him by the shoulder

''Now, what is all that flattering?'' she giggled ''You're the best, Sasuke-kun, thank you''

Someone knocked on the front door

''You go see who it is, I'll go make dinner for us'' Sakura said, getting up from bed and making her way to the kitchen.

When Sasuke opened the front door, he saw Itachi standing outside.

''May I come in?'' he asked

Sasuke nodded, stepping back to make way for him.

''I honestly thought I would see you here when we came back'' Sasuke admitted

''I rented an apartment'' Itachi explained ''I wasn't sure whether you'd want me here or not''

The younger Uchiha stood in front of him, both men staring at each other in the eyes

''This is your home as well as it is mine. You're always welcome here''

Itachi offered him a brief smile

''I'll keep that in mind. Thank you''

Sakura arrived from the kitchen, drying her hands on a towel

''Itachi-san! What a wonderful surprise!''

The older Uchiha looked from Sasuke to Sakura a few times before replying

''Haruno-san, it's a pleasure to see you again. Should I come back a different time?''

''Oh, it's alright! You must be asking yourself what I'm doing here so late in the night'' Sakura smiled at him, nervously ''Sasuke-kun kindly offered to share his house with me and Hae Ra after we were asked to move out from our previous home''

Itachi nodded

''I see''

''Well I'll leave you two to talk and go back to making dinner'' she said ''Do you like Donburi, Itachi-san?''

''Yes, thank you''

Sakura nodded and made her way back to the kitchen, leaving both men alone to talk. She was sure there was much Sasuke would like to ask Itachi. Especially because she knew they didn't have much time left to be together.

If Hitori was the one who had brought Itachi back to life, what would happen once she was defeated, given Sakura managed to defeat her? Sakura knew Sasuke wouldn't want to choose between his daughter and his brother, so she spoke to Tsunade alone about that and they both came to the same conclusion: Sasuke would find out eventually that Hitori's demise meant Itachi's death too. The question was, how would he react when he found that out? Sakura couldn't take any chances. As much as she liked Itachi, she had to save Hae Ra.

Whether Sasuke chose her or not.

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''…Then when it was Sasuke-kun's turn he said 'I have an ambition: the resurrection of my clan and… to kill a certain man!' TAN DAN DANNNN'' Sakura shouted, bursting into laughter ''Everyone was like, 'whoa what's with this guy?' It was amazing!''

Itachi joined her laughing while Sasuke scowled

''It must have been great'' Itachi agreed

''And when Team 7 was first reunited, at Orochimaru's hideout, do you know what he said to Naruto? 'I spared your life on a whim, nothing more. But this time, my whim is telling me, to finish what I started', like whaaaaaat? How long did you take to think of that line, bro? Really, Itachi-san, you should've been there to watch it, t'was priceless!'' she laughed loudly again, hitting the table

''I'm sorry my little brother caused you guys this much trouble because of me'' Itachi apologized, but he was smiling too. Sakura's laughter was just too contagious.

''Okay, Sakura, you drank too much wine, I'll take you to your room'' Sasuke got up from his chair and took her by the arm

''What? No! Itachi and I have just started, take your seat again and just listen, Sasuke-kun''

''I'm sure Itachi has heard enough for one night, let's go''

Sakura kept complaining while Sasuke dragged her to her room. He sat her on the bed and kneeled in front of her

''Are you going to be okay alone here?''

Her cheeks were red because of the alcohol

''Sasuke-kun, you have beautiful eyes, y'know?'' she touched the tip of his nose with one finger, playfully ''What a pretty boy''

''Remind me never to let you drink alcohol again'' he sighed, gently taking her hand away from his face

''Sasuke-kun?''

''Yes?''

''Lemme try something, stay still''

Slowly, she leaned closer to him. Sasuke was alarmed for a second, when he realized what she about to do. Still, he couldn't get his body to move away, and his body started to come closer to hers too.

Their lips were inches apart when suddenly her head fell on his shoulder and her chakra signature lowered. She was asleep.

Sasuke stayed still for a moment, thinking about what had almost happened.

He didn't like Sakura that way, did he?

He took her in his arms and placed her on the bed, covering her body with a blanket so she wouldn't feel cold at night.

Had he ever cared about someone this much, though? He wanted to be at her side on every moment, he wanted her to share her life with him, he wanted her close. He wanted to protect her and he wanted her to let him do it. He wanted to take care of her at all times, and always be there for her.

When had such feelings grown inside of him?

And most importantly, what was he to do with them?

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Sakura woke up early the following morning, and she had a big headache.

After using healing jutsu to diminish the pain, she grabbed some fruit to eat on her way and hurried to the training grounds.

 _It's time I see how much I've learned_

Sakura spent the rest of her morning and the beginning of her afternoon training. To her relief, she could still perform all of the jutsus she'd learned during her weeks as Hitori, and she just needed to perfect them. She had, though, to make the seals to perform each and every jutsu, unlike her aunt, which took her a little more time to cast each of them, and she knew that on the battle to come, time was precious.

Sasuke joined her soon after lunchtime, and watched her train.

''I need you to teach me everything you know about the Fire element, Sasuke-kun, and help me better control it''

Sasuke nodded, but didn't move

''Sasuke-kun?''

''Do you… remember anything? From last night?''

 _Oh oh_

''No, why?'' Had she said something she shouldn't have? Or vomited or farted in front of him?

Sasuke shook his head

''Nevermind. Here, let me teach you a few seals''

.

Days passed, and on each day Sasuke and Sakura trained together, improving Sakura's skills. She would need to perfect each jutsu if she was to defeat someone as powerful as her enemy was.

When they were 3 days away from the Lunar Eclipse, Sasuke and Sakura left to find the place where Sakura would meet her opponent.

''So, you and Itachi. Did you work things out?'' she asked, trying to make conversation while they jumped from tree to tree

Sasuke thought about it for a second

''Things will never be exactly the way they were before. People in the village hate him too because they don't know the whole story. But we are taking baby steps to make things at least better''

Sakura nodded

''Does this mean he's moving in with us?''

''Yes. Do you have any objections?''

''No, no!'' Sakura quickly said ''Itachi-san is a great person. Besides, Hae Ra will love to meet her uncle!''

Sasuke said nothing, his expression stern.

 _What's gotten into him?_ Sakura thought

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It was almost sunset of the day that she should meet Hitori when Sasuke started to behave strangely

''What's wrong?'' Sakura asked

''I can't let you continue, Sakura'' he admitted

She raised an eyebrow

''I beg your pardon?''

''Did you really think you could hide from me what you said to Tsunade?'' he narrowed his eyes ''How long did you intend to keep this information from me?''

Sakura was shocked

''I don't know what you're talking about'' she tried to say

''You know exactly what I'm talking about. As soon as you defeat Hitori, Itachi will be gone again. This concerns _me_ and you didn't even bother to share this information with me''

''Well you know what else concerns you? The fact that _your daughter's life_ is at stake here too! Because if we don't defeat Hitori, she's going to suffer the consequences!''

''You should not be the one to choose!''

''There is no choice here, Sasuke!''

''I can't lose Itachi again''

''Sasuke, for God's sake, he's supposed to be dead, it's not like we're killing him or anything, things will just go back to how they should be!''

''You didn't share this decision with me!''

''Because there's nothing to choose! We're going to save Hae Ra!''

''She's going to be deactivated within a few days anyway, at least Itachi could stay with us!''

Sakura was flabbergasted

''I can't believe you just said that''

Sasuke halted for a second, knowing he had chosen the wrong words

''Do you think Hitori will just allow him to live knowing he's on our side? Do you think she will let _me_ live? Sasuke, this is ridiculous, you're choosing the enemy's side!''

''No, I'm choosing my family's side''

''Hae Ra and I are your family!''

''Itachi is my family!''

Sakura was taken aback by those words

So everything he'd said before was a lie? Good. She didn't need him anyway

''Go back to your precious Itachi while you can, because once I defeat Hitori you'll have no more of him!''

''I said I won't let you go after her''

''Oh please, give me a break! Listen, you're not thinking clearly, so why don't you just sit down here and relax while I handle this situation?''

''I said I won't let you do this''

''Then you leave me with no other choice''

Before Sasuke had the time to reply, she charged at him, Hikari on both her hands, ready to strike him. At first, Sasuke didn't react, he was too shocked to do anything. But soon after they both started to fight with all they had.

 _I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun… I have to do this,_ Sakura thought, before leaving the illusion she'd created behind and running through the woods to the meeting spot.

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The night was falling when she reached the place.

The old house her grandparents had built, where they were killed.

''Poetic'' she said to herself, entering the half-destroyed building ''Now we wait'' she sat down.

Soon, the sky started to turn dark. Sakura looked up to see the Moon was starting to disappear.

A portal then appeared right in front of her, like a wormhole in the middle of the house.

Sakura inhaled deeply and stepped inside it.

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* * *

Here's another chapter woohooo!

Big thanks to Lizzie223 for being so sweet in her review, it brightened my day! I hope you enjoy this chapter too, I'm doing my best S2

So, what did you guys think of this chapter? I'll be honest with you guys, I really wanted to give this story up because I didn't like what I was writing anymore . But eh, you guys deserve an ending, right? And I have adorable readers such as Lizzie supporting me, so I need to continue doing my best to finish this!

Next chapter will most likely be released next weekend, so stay tuneeeddd!

Big hugs, everyone!

.

Blackfan Diamond


	12. Chapter 11

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Chapter 11

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When Sakura stepped on the other side, she found herself walking on what looked like water. The sky above her was clean and she could see the sun up above

 _Wasn't it night?_

''It was, child'' a voice said from behind her.

Quickly, Sakura summoned two fireballs on her hands

''Calm down, little one. There's no need to fight''

Sakura's eyes narrowed

''What is it you mean?''

With a snap of fingers, someone appeared right behind Hitori, floating in the air

''Hae Ra!'' Sakura tried to run in her direction, but Hitori pushed her away with a light jutsu.

''Ah ah, no need to rush!''

Hae Ra was floating right behind Hitori, her eyes closed as if she was asleep

''I want to offer you a deal'' the older woman smiled

Sakura frowned

''I will not make any deals with you… Yoake''

Hitori's smile froze

''So you knew''

Sakura smirked

''How?''

''It was a wild guess, let's say. I used the book inside that box to find the Village of the Mountain. There, the book led me to my aunt's past, but her story stopped when you killed my grandparents and my father escaped. So I assumed my aunt had also died that day, and the only person who knew that was you, meaning you had taken her place. The question is: why?''

Yoake smiled wickedly, his whole body shining bright for a second, and when Sakura looked again he was the same man with purple eyes from Hitori's memories, except much younger than she remembered.

''Why, to finish what I had started, of course. You see, right before she passed away, Hitori ripped herself off her powers, and transferred them to your father. He, though, had no chakra control whatsoever, he was a civilian, meaning the powers remained resting inside of him, until he passed them on to his firstborn: you. I knew this would happen one day, so I disguised myself as Hitori and waited until you were born and grew up to adulthood, when you'd be able to learn how to use your powers. I tried to persuade you to come with me because although I can absorb one's powers, I can't evolve them, so I needed you to fully awaken your powers before taking them from you. This is why I tried to put enemies on your way and gave you that book and some time before this meeting today, because I wanted you to improve your skills before I rip them from you'' he explained, smiling darkly.

''Your plan ends today, Yoake'' Sakura started ''because I'm going to defeat you and avenge everyone whose life you took only to become more powerful!''

''You'll do not such thing'' he said ''I don't doubt you're as powerful as Hitori, and only I know how much potential that child had. Fighting you would be troublesome, but trust me, fighting _me_ would be much more''

''I'll take the risk''

''Which is why I offer you a choice, Sakura'' he spoke again, moving his hand so Hae Ra's body floated in the middle of them ''Take your child home now, and give me your powers in return''

Sakura gave him a sick smile

''You must be kidding me, right?''

''I am not. You came for her, didn't you? Take her, I have no use for the doll. Refuse, though, and I'll kill her before you have time to scream her name''

''I don't trust you'' Sakura said, starting to run on his direction. As soon as she gave her first step, though, Yoake placed a kunai on Hae Ra's back and opened it, pulling a small chip out, playing with it on his hand. Suddenly, his hand started to close in a fist, the sound of something breaking resounding in the air.

''Oops, sorry, I'm not very good with technology, you know?'' he falsely apologized, smiling at her

Sakura halted and cursed

Yoake played with the kunai close to her face

''Will she still look like you once I rip her eyes out?''

Sakura bit her lower lip

''If I give you my powers, what will you do?''

''All I ever wanted was immortality. You're the only member of the Hinode clan with powers left, child. As soon as I absorb your powers I'll be able to have what I desire, and no more killing will be needed''

Sakura thought about it for a second. She wouldn't get the chance to fight, not with Hae Ra on his hands

''Do you promise you'll let Hae Ra go if I accept your deal?''

''I swear on my mother's name'' he smiled wickedly again

 _What should I do?_ _I can't give him my powers, but I can't risk Hae Ra's safety either_

''I'm not a very patient man, you should be quicker'' he said, making a long cut on Hae Ra's face

''NO!'' Sakura shouted ''Fine!''

Before their hands met to seal the deal, though, Sakura appeared from behind him, the illusion of her in front of him dismissing. She hit him hard with her glowing fists on the chest, then threw fireballs at him and ended summoning Shining Circle for a final attack.

When she was done, Yoake laid hurt on the ground, holding his bleeding chest.

''You're good, child''

Sakura smiled

''But not good enough''

The entire world around Sakura shattered like broken glass and the illusion was gone, Yoake stood away from her, holding Hae Ra in his arms while many kunais floated around him, ready to hit her on the back, where her control center was.

''Goodbye, _Hae Ra''_ he said, commanding the kunais to stab her.

''DEAL!'' Sakura screamed

The weapons stopped inches from her small body

Yoake released a loud, evil laughter

''IT IS DONE!'' he appeared in front of Sakura in a flash and took her hand. Sakura screamed when she felt her hand burn, her energy being drained from her body while Yoake laughed hysterically, his hair moving wildly behind him.

When he was done absorbing her energy, Sakura was left half-dead on the ground, looking as Yoake clasped his hands together and disappeared.

Then she lost consciousness.

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''Mama! Mama!'' Sakura felt someone call her in her sleep ''Wake up, mama, please!''

When Sakura tried to open her eyes, she almost fainted again. Every movement she made required too much effort, she was too weak.

''Hae Ra?'' she managed to whisper

''Mama!'' Hae Ra jumped on her and hugged her tight

''Hae Ra, this hurts'' she said, making a big effort to sit down.

It was night, the Lunar Eclipse had just ended, and they were sitting outside of the house her grandparents had built.

''What happened?''

''I woke up and you were lying on the ground, mama, you wouldn't move, even though I started to scream'' Hae Ra started to cry ''I was so scared, mama, I thought you had left me''

Sakura hugged her

''I would never leave you, darling. I'm right here''

''Finally!'' someone said from behind them

''Papa!'' Hae Ra ran in his direction and jumped in his arms

''Hae Ra?'' he examined her, then when recognition sparkled in his eyes, he hugged her tight ''Thank God you're okay! Does this mean…?''

''Yoake… Hitori isn't dead'' Sakura explained, feeling upset after seeing how happy Hae Ra got to see Sasuke, even though he would rather let her die to save Itachi ''Itachi should be fine'' she spat the last words as if they were acid.

Sasuke nodded, then looked back at Hae Ra

''What is this on your face?'' he pointed at the big cut that went from under her eye to her chin

''I woke up with this, it stings a bit'' she complained, touching the wound ''But mama can heal it! She always heals my knee when I get hurt playing!''

Sakura hesitated when Hae Ra stopped in front of her and turned her cut to her

 _It's fine, I should still have the basic healing jutsus I learned before all this Hinode thing happened_

Her hands glowed in a fading green

''Are you okay?'' Sasuke asked when 5 minutes passed and the wound was still there

It took her almost a whole 13 minutes to heal that cut, even though it wasn't very deep. Sakura tried her best not to cry. She was a useless ninja again, just like she was when she was a teenager.

''Mama is probably just tired, we should go back home!'' Hae Ra said, taking Sakura by the hand and pulling her so she would stand

As soon as she stood, though, Sakura felt dizzy, and was about to fall on the ground had Sasuke not taken her in his arms

''You're definitely not okay'' he said ''I'll carry you''

This time, Hae Ra sensed something wasn't right, and didn't complain during their entire trip back to Konoha.

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''Sasuke! Sakura-chan!'' Naruto shouted when he saw them approaching the Village's Gates ''and is that…? Hae Ra-chan!'' he ran in her direction and hugged her tight ''Thank God you're okay! Uncle Naruto was worried about you! Yes, he was! And these two left on a mission to find you without me, can you believe that?!''

''Not so loud, Dobe'' Sasuke hissed ''Take Hae Ra to Sakura's parent's house, I'm taking Sakura to Tsunade''

''Is she alright? Oi! Teme! Talk to me!''

.

''Will she be alright?'' Sakura heard someone ask

''She's very weak, it will take at least a few days for her to recover her strength…''

 _Tsunade-sama?_

''I'll stay with her'' the first voice said

 _Sasuke-kun…_

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Sakura woke up on the following day at the hospital. She recognized the white walls, the bed she was on and the view from that window.

''You're awake'' someone said

 _Sasuke_

''How are you feeling?''

Sakura turned her face to the side. She did not wish to talk to him.

''Are you really going to be like that?'' he asked, coming closer to her bed ''You really won't talk to me?''

Sakura continued to look outside of the window

''Fine then. Do as you wish'' he snapped, leaving the room and slamming the door behind him.

Sakura felt a single tear be formed on her eyes, but she swallowed hard and wiped it before it fell.

''I'm not going to cry because of him. Not anymore''

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Hae Ra stayed with her during the whole day while she was at the hospital, reading the stories from her books to Sakura and showing her the figures.

''What do ogres eat, mama?''

Sakura thought about it for a second

''I don't know, Hae Ra''

''When I grow up, I want to be an ogre too, so I can play in the mud all day long and mama will not complain!'' she giggled

''Hey, I never complain!'' Sakura smiled

''You _always_ complain when I come back home dirty, mama! I just want to have funnnnnnnn!''

''I'll show you what fun is'' she took Hae Ra and threw her in the air, tickled her and then put her on her back, running around the small patient's room with her laughing loudly.

Suddenly the floor and the ceiling started to shake

''What on Earth is that?'' Sakura said, putting Hae Ra down and looking outside of the window.

The sky was dark and the moon was covered by clouds. Or was that…?

''A jellyfish, mama?''

Sakura shivered

 _It can't be_

Suddenly, there was a scream coming from the street in front of the hospital. When both girls glanced there, they saw a woman running and a few children chasing her.

''Mama, those seem to be dolls, just like me'' Hae Ra informed ''but… different somehow, there's chakra inside of them''

''What else can you tell me, Hae Ra?''

The little girl concentrated on the doll that was closest to them, trying to break through the hospital's gates

''They all have the same chakra signature, as if they are puppets being controlled by the same person''

 _Yoake_

''C'mon, let's take you out of here, it isn't safe to stay'' Sakura took Hae Ra in her arms and ran outside of the hospital

''What the hell are you doing here? Back to your room right now!'' Tsunade commanded. She too was in front of the hospital, watching as the dolls tried to break through the gates

''I'm fine, you'll probably need to use every help you can get if we're going to fight Yoake''

''Yoake?''

Sakura summarized the whole story to Tsunade, who nodded

''I see, this is why Sasuke said you were having trouble healing Hae Ra's wound, you've lost your powers''

''Not all of them, though'' Sakura concentrated chakra on her fists ''I can still deliver one hell of a punch''

Tsunade smirked

''Do you think he's here because of the scrolls?'' Sakura asked

''SAKURA-CHAN! HAE RA-CHAN!'' Naruto used his clones to attack the dolls in front of the main gates and jumped over it, running in their direction, followed closely by Sasuke ''We came as soon as we could, are you both okay?''

''We are'' Sakura reassured him

''That's exactly why he's here'' Tsunade said bitterly ''Sasuke, Naruto! You two go find the Ambu and organize a counterstrike. Sakura, you go find the civilians and lead them to the underground tunnels so they can be taken outside of the Village safely''

The three shinobi nodded

''C'mon, Hae Ra, let's go!'' Sakura picked her up and went to the underground tunnels' entrance. She opened it and put Hae Ra down ''Mama will find the civilians and make them come here, you help them once they arrive, okay?''

''Okay, mama!''

Sakura kissed her on the forehead dearly before turning her back to her and running through the village, finding the civilians and commanding them to go to the tunnels' entrance.

She was almost done taking the patients from the hospital to the tunnels when she heard steps. They were so light that was Sakura not a ninja she would never have heard them.

Following the sound, Sakura ran towards the lowest floors of the hospital.

''The vault should be somewhere around here'' she said to herself.

When she finally found it, though, its door was open. She ran inside it and searched for the scrolls, but they were not there.

''Looking for this?'' a voice said from behind her

Sakura turned around, but she was not surprised when she saw the person standing there

''Itachi-san''

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* * *

Thank you for reading this (:

Big thanks to Lizzie223 for supporting me so much S2 You're the best!

I hope you guys like this chapter, we're almost at the end of this story *cries*!

Big hugsss!

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Blackfan Diamond


	13. Chapter 12

For Lizzie223 and Caio

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Chapter 12

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''You don't seem surprised'' Itachi pointed out

''I'm not''

He nodded, silently

''I'm sorry, Haruno-san, I have no choice.''

''I know. I'm sorry too'' she sighed ''I can't let you leave with those scrolls, though''

''And I can't let you take them from me. Tell Sasuke I'm sorry''

Suddenly, he turned into many crows and flew out of the vault to the hospital's entrance. Sakura followed him, her fists glowing weakly with chakra. She was still weak from her last meeting with Yoake.

The crows continued to fly in the sky, but due to the dust that rose because of the explosions going on in the village, Sakura had a hard time seeing them, let alone follow them.

A few dolls spotted her and went running on her direction. Sakura prepared her fists to punch them, but before she managed to attack them, they ran right past her, going to a different target: an Ambu who was already fighting a couple of dolls.

 _What…?_

Sakura helped him fight the dolls, then ran towards the center of the village, trying to spot the crows in the sky. Again, other dolls ran right past her, but none stopped to attack. Instead, they targeted other ninjas. Even when she laid hits on a few dolls, they refused to attack Sakura, only dodging her attacks and then aiming at other enemies.

''Why aren't they attacking you, Sakura-san?'' Lee asked while they both fought side by side against a dozen dolls.

''I have no idea'' she replied in between punches

Neji and Tenten came running to help them, the first noticing the same thing Lee had pointed out.

''You are from the same clan as the one behind all of this'' he said ''they won't hurt you because they think of you as one of them''

Sakura looked at the dolls, they looked exactly like children, and one of them even smiled at her and nodded before attacking Lee.

 _They must have feelings too… They are not just any dolls! They're like Hae Ra!_

''Don't kill them!'' she shouted ''defeat them without hurting them''

''Are you crazy?'' Tenten said, dodging an attack that would have left her badly hurt ''They are here to kill us!''

''They are just puppets under Yoake's control, they don't know what they're doing! We need to find their master and kill him instead!''

Neji and Tenten exchanged looks, then nodded

''I'll pass the information on, the three of you go find this Yoake!'' Lee shouted, leaving them and heading to where other groups of ninjas fought

From the corner of her eye, Sakura saw a crow flying

 _Itachi_

''This way!'' she called her friends, leading the way

They ran until they were at the center of the village. Then, suddenly, a light explosion happened and Yoake appeared.

''That's him!'' Sakura shouted, her fists glowing as she jumped on him. Tenten summoned weapons and threw them all at his direction, but Yoake repelled them all, bringing those weapons to life and making them attack Tenten instead. Neji tried to strike him with Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, but somehow Yoake dodged each attack, using a light attack to send Neji away flying.

Team Ino-Shika-Cho arrived to help them, each using their own skills to fight the man in front of them, but no attack had any effect on him, even their combined one.

Yoake was fighting Lee with Taijutsu when suddenly Naruto appeared behind him with a Rasengan, hitting him on the back. The Hinode screamed and put some distance between him and his attackers, then smiled. Within a few seconds, the hole on his back was completely healed.

Naruto cursed and entered Sannin-Mode, summoning many clones to fight him. His attacks seemed more effective than his friends', but he still couldn't hurt Yoake anymore - the older man had learned his technics and was dodging all of his attacks now. Naruto no longer had the surprise element.

Sasuke, though, did. Just as Yoake was aiming an attack at Naruto, Sasuke appeared from behind him and tried to hit him with Chidori. A light barrier appeared on Yoake's back, though, and blocked his attack. The man then noticed Sasuke's presence and his hands got full of fire, hitting Sasuke's chest hard and throwing him far away, his chest burned. The jellyfish flying around Yoake and the big one that covered the sky replenished his chakra and enhanced his abilities, making his attacks even more powerful, making it hard for whoever received a hit from him to get up again.

Everyone kept on fighting him, more ninjas arriving to help, but it was to no avail: not only could they not lay a hit on Yoake, but whenever he got hurt he was instantly healed.

Sakura decided frontal attacks wouldn't work.

Biting her thumb, she summoned the Black Wyvern

''Sakura-sama'' it said, then sniffed her ''Your chakra is low, it's not nearly what it used to look like before'' it commented

''I know, it's a long story. I can't give you fire right now''

''Then I cannot help you''

''Oh c'mon!'' she begged ''Look how many people will be watching you! They'll see how amazing you are and will no longer see you as an enemy! After this war, you and the other wyverns will be able to live wherever you want in the Fire Country, for people will love you!''

The wyvern thought about it for a moment

''I'll help you, but only this once''

Sakura nodded, thankful

''I need you to get rid of that big Jellyfish''

The wyvern roared loudly an obeyed, flying in its direction and engaging a fight with the enormous sea creature in the skies

Just like magic, Yoake's healing skills started to take longer to work, and his attacks seemed less powerful than before

He looked at Sakura angrily

''You! You insolent brat, I should've killed you before, but I won't make the same mistake again''

Sakura's eyes widened when a big ball of light was formed in Yoake's hand and a ray came from it straight in her direction

''Sakura!'' Sasuke tried to move, but he was already too late

''Sakura-chan!'' Naruto screamed

Then there was a lot of blood, it had hit the heart

But not Sakura's

''Dad?!'' Sakura cried out in horror when she saw the big hole on her father's chest ''No, no, no!''

Kizashi fell on the ground and Sakura placed his head on her lap, trying desperately to heal him, but she couldn't

''No, Dad, no! Why? WHY?!''

He rose a hand covered in blood and touched her face

''Because I love you, daughter'' he smiled weakly ''I would give my life one thousand times for you''

''Dad… I love you too'' she pressed her face against his, crying. He held her hand tight, then finally let go.

''How moving'' Yoake mocked ''one Hinode left. Goodbye, _Sa-ku-ra''_

He rose his hand and prepared another attack, and this time Sakura didn't even bother to move.

''DIE'' he screamed, releasing a powerful attack

But the attack never hit Sakura: a light barrier was formed around her.

When she looked up, her eyes widened

''Aunt Hitori?!''

Her body was made only of light, as if she was an illusion. But she was there, a 6-years-old child.

She looked down at Kizashi's body and her face was full of sorrow

''Sakura! When Kizashi onii-san died, the part of my power that still lived within him was released. Take it, and defeat Yoake!''

''I can't'' Sakura looked down, defeated ''I've tried before, he's too strong for me''

Hitori's face grew angry

''Is the heiress of my powers a weakling?''

Sakura lowered her head even more, ashamed

''Have I not commanded you? Be courageous and strong, do not be struck with terror or fear, for I will be with you wherever you go''

Sakura rose her head and looked up at her

Hitori held her gaze, confident. She was but a child, yet she was proving herself braver than Sakura.

 _I won't let my father's passing be in vain_

''Lend me your power'' Sakura said, standing up, closing her hands in fists

Hitori smiled at her

''Now that's more like it''

The light shield was broken at the same time as Hitori's form became a light ball and entered Sakura's chest. The pinkette felt a wave of energy run through her body and suddenly her chakra increased enormously, her eyes white and runes starting to appear on her body.

''Impossible!'' Yoake said, surprised

Sakura stepped hard on the floor and a wave of energy was sent everywhere around her, making the ground shake. Without wasting another second, she charged at Yoake, and this time he was too surprised to dodge. When he finally recomposed himself, both ninjas engaged in a fight of their own, as if nothing else existed. This time, though, Yoake was suffering from the attacks. He tried to put some distance between them by climbing on the big jellyfish's back, but Sakura was quick to follow him, jumping on the Black Wyvern's back. Light collided with light as both creatures released their power, attacking each other. Sakura jumped on the jellyfish's back too and engaged in a fight with Yoake again, both fighting with taijutsu while trying to hit each other with Hikari. There was an explosion in the air when the black wyvern defeated the big jellyfish and it disappeared in a puff, making both ninjas fall on the ground again.

Noticing the opening in his defense, the other ninjas started to attack Yoake too.

''ENOUGH!'' he shouted, releasing an attack that sent everyone flying away ''I've had enough of you! I'm a GOD! I won't be stopped by some insolent ninjas who think they can stop me!''

The small jellyfish floating in the air threw their tentacles inside the ground and they emerged around each and every ninja who was attacking Yoake, trapping them and draining their chakra.

Yoake aimed at a few children and absorbed their energy, killing them.

''Stop!'' Sakura shouted, trying to free herself, but she couldn't. At least 6 children died as Yoake absorbed their energy to himself.

''Now for the final reprise'' he smiled wickedly

Crows appeared next to him and Itachi emerged from them

''The scrolls'' he said

''Itachi!'' Sasuke called, but neither men looked at him

''Finally!'' Yoake said aloud, laughing and opening the first scroll ''The scrolls are mine! Now no one will be able to stop me, I'll become… immortal!'' when he finished opening the first scroll, though, there was but a child's drawing on it ''What is the meaning of this?!''

Itachi looked at the scrolls, confused. Then he looked back at Sakura and smirked

''What do you mean, it's obviously a swan on a lake'' Sakura smiled ''you lack imagination, Yoake''

''Where are the real scrolls?!'' he demanded, throwing the scribbled scroll on the ground

''By now? It must be miles away from here, far away from your reach'' she shrugged ''You'll never find them''

Yoake cursed aloud, his eyes enraged, and he charged in her direction, ready to kill her.

Sakura whispered some words and the jellyfish around her released her.

''This is where it ends'' she screamed, her whole body glowing as it was replaced by a humanoid form made only by light ''Sasuke, Naruto! It's time!''

Her teammates nodded, running in Yoake's direction. They all attacked him at once, Sakura lowering his defenses while Naruto and Sasuke struck him.

Sakura summoned jellyfish of her own to heal her comrades, and soon they were all standing again, charging at Yoake too.

''It can't be!'' he raged.

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura prepared one last extremely powerful attack: Naruto with his Rasengan, Sasuke with Chidori and Sakura with Hikari. The three gathered as much chakra as they could and put it on that last attack, causing a big explosion at the center of Konoha, rays of light exploding with the last attack.

After that, there was only silence.

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When finally the dust settled and it was possible to see again, Team 7 saw Yoake on his knees, still alive, trying to catch his breath. The three ninjas were too exhausted from the last attack to attack him again, but it seemed like they wouldn't need to: he was way too weak to try anything.

From behind a curtain of dust, a few children appeared, coming closer to Yoake.

''My creations'' he called ''help me, lend me your strength!''

The child who had smiled at Sakura earlier took their front

''We'll protect you''

Yoake smirked.

''I'm not done yet! I can still use their power, and then KILL you all!'' he screamed, absorbing the closest child's chakra and performing a few seals.

Sakura recognised that sequence

 _Aurora Dance_

''And now for the Grand Finale'' he said, casting Shining Circle ''This is where it ends!''

''You are right'' a voice said from behind him ''This is where it ends''

''Itachi!'' Sasuke shouted, but it was too late: Itachi's hand pierced through Yoake's chest, reaching his heart.

''You…!'' the Hinode cried out. Instantly, he tried to heal himself, but he couldn't since Aurora Dance was activated.

''Sakura, now!'' Itachi shouted

Quickly, she casted Hikari again and struck Yoake's chest with it, on a final attack.

The man chocked with his own blood, the children around him looking at him in shock, then slowly, his eyes closed, forever.

''Itachi!'' Sasuke ran in his direction ''Don't go''

The older Uchiha smiled

''I'm sorry, Sasuke'' he touched Sasuke's forehead with his index and middle finger ''I'll see you next time''

Then his body fell on the ground, along with all of the dolls.

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''This is so troublesome'' Shikamaru said when the Hokage summoned him. There was much to be done to rebuild Konoha, and he was to be in charge of the whole process.

''It could be worse'' Chouji said, eating his chips ''At least you can get rid of Temari for a few days. I heard she's even scarier now that she's pregnant''

Shikamaru rubbed his temples

''Well, yes''

''C'mon, let's start with the most important place to be rebuilt: the steak house!''

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''Sakura'' Sasuke called after they explained everything that happened to Tsunade and left her tower ''We need to talk''

''It's fine, Sasuke''

''It's not. You were right… Hae Ra belongs with us, Itachi's gone, like things should be''

Sakura looked at him with a sad face

''I'm sorry I didn't take your feelings into account. I know you didn't want to choose between Itachi and Hae Ra, and that you just wanted me to share things with you''

Sasuke nodded

''I behaved like a fool, though. I'm… I'm sorry, Sakura''

The pinkette smiled at him, then poked him

''What is that, Sasuke? I didn't hear it, say it again!''

He turned his face to the side, his cheeks red

''You heard it''

''I want to hear it again''

Instead, he hugged her.

''I promise you, though'' he started ''I won't let anything come between our family again''

Sakura was left speechless

''That moment… I thought I would lose you''

Slowly, she embraced him

''Hey, you're not getting rid of me that easily'' she joked

He hugged her tighter

''You are my family, Sakura''

She felt tears being formed in her eyes. Sakura moved a little away to look at him in the eyes.

''And you are mine''

He smiled

That moment she knew things would be okay

Finally, things would be okay

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''I didn't know about this place'' Sakura teased, holding Sasuke's hand as they walked through a garden of Cherry Blossoms in a hidden place of the Uchiha's District.

''This was my mother's favorite place here'' he admitted ''I hated it''

Sakura glanced at him

''Why is that?''

''It reminded me of a certain pink-haired annoying kunoichi who I couldn't stop thinking about'' he smirked

Sakura chuckled

''So big Sasuke Uchiha had a crush on someone when he was younger?'' she came closer to him, their faces almost touching.

''I must say I grew accustomed to her presence, and when she wasn't there I missed her''

''Is that so?'' she said playfully, her lips dangerously close to his.

Suddenly, he pressed her against one of the trees

''Don't play with fire, Sakura'' he smiled on her lips

''I am the fire'' she replied, wrapping her arms around his neck and finally joining their lips. Sasuke brought one of his hands to her waist while the other came up to her neck, bringing her closer to him.

''Mama, Papa!'' Hae Ra came running in their direction

Sakura put some distance between her and Sasuke, giggling. Then she gave him a peck on the lips and released him.

''Yes, darling?'' she asked

''I think… It's time, mama''

Sakura's smile died

''What do you mean?''

''I can feel my battery running slower, and my system is starting to fail…'' she started, and when she looked up at Sakura she had teary eyes ''I don't want to go, mama! I want to stay with you and papa!''

Sakura kneeled on the grass and hugged her tightly

''I'll take you to Shizune and Tsunade, there must be something they can do!'' Sakura decided, getting up and taking Hae Ra's hand

The young one, though, resisted. When Sakura looked down at her, she was shaking her head

''There's nothing they can do, mama… I want to… spend my last hours with you two, not in the laboratory''

Sakura started to cry, kneeling again in front of Hae Ra

''Hae Ra… I'm sorry if I wasn't the mother you deserve… I know I failed in many aspects… I hope you can forgive me''

The little girl hugged her tightly

''Mama, you are the best mom I could've asked for. You gave me a home, love and care. And you sacrificed a lot for me, I might be young but I understand a few things… Thank you for being my mama!''

Tears ran freely down Sakura's face, and Sasuke kneeled next to her, one hand running on her back to comfort her

''Papa… I'm sorry I drew on your scrolls that time, I know you didn't like it'' she started ''but it was mom who told me to use your scrolls instead of hers!'' she defended herself

Sasuke closed his eyes while Sakura chuckled, both laughing and crying at the same time

''It's okay, Hae Ra, you were a good girl. Still are. I wish I could've been a better father to you''

Hae Ra shook her head

''You were the best parents, mama, papa!'' she giggled ''Even though you didn't walk holding hands until very recently''

Sakura blushed and looked at Sasuke, who returned her gaze warmly

''Papa, please take good care of mama. Mama, please take good care of papa… I'll always love you two'' she hugged them both, feeling their arms embrace her too

''And we'll always love you, sweetheart'' Sakura said in between tears ''infinity times infinity''

That night, the three of them made dinner together, and Sakura prepared some Strawberry milkshake for Hae Ra while they played together.

When it was time to go to bed, they all slept on the same bed, Hae Ra in the middle.

''…and once again peace reigned over the realm. This time, forever'' Sasuke finished ''The end''

Hae Ra chuckled

''I like this story, papa!''

''I know, this is the seventh time you asked me to read it to you'' he smiled, putting the book away ''Ready to sleep, little one?''

Hae Ra nodded and Sasuke turned off the lights

''Mama, papa?''

''Hm?'' they both said

''I'll love you forever''

Then she closed her eyes, not to open them again.

.

.

.

A fortnight passed, and Sakura was summoned to the Hokage's tower.

''And then- for the last time, can you please knock on the damn- Oh, Sakura! Come in, take a seat'' Tsunade said. She'd been talking to Shizune when Sakura entered the room.

''Excuse me'' she said shyly, sitting down

''I know it's not the best time'' Tsunade started with a sad face ''but we were hoping you could write us a report on what you thought about the KMP. So we know how to improve''

''Of course'' Sakura replied, not too excited about the idea ''I'll do that as soon as I leave your office''

''Also…'' Tsunade continued ''How did you know Itachi was being controlled by Yoake to switch the scrolls? And how did he come back to our side at the end?''

''Well I didn't know for sure… But I tried to understand how revival jutsus worked. Given Yoake didn't have the hidden scrolls to actually resurrect anything, because those were destroyed during the last Ninja War, I figured he was using Inochi no Jutsu, but a somehow supreme form of it, to give life to inanimate objects, such as the corpses. Because he had the power of all the other people from the Hinode clan together, he was able to sustain the jutsu for a far longer time than I could, weeks even. That's how I could tell he was being controlled by Yoake. On the other hand, Itachi, unlike the dolls and objects we can give life to, already had a life before this, he was a human, so he could think for himself. I remember when I gave life to a few objects to clean the house, back when I was Hitori: when they finished the task they were given, they could do whatever they wanted if I wasn't giving them commands. The same way, after retrieving the scrolls to Yoake, Itachi's orders were complete, so he was able to do whatever he wished until he received another command. He took this opening to defeat Yoake. In the end, he was the one who saved Konoha, just like in the past''

Tsunade nodded, and kept on talking to Sakura, but the pinkette wasn't paying attention anymore. A single thought started to grow inside her head.

.

.

.

''Are you sure you want to do this?'' Sasuke asked

''For the eleventh time, yes'' Sakura smiled at him

''Sakura, I don't want to ruin your excitement, but you said yourself the power Hitori lent you was limited. You will lose all your powers from the Hinode clan again if you use your skills for something this big'' Tsunade commented

Sakura nodded

''I'm well aware of that. Still, I want to do this. I'll go back to being an ordinary ninja, but so what? I managed to kick some asses before all this Hinode clan thing appeared, there's nothing bad in going back to being the same old Sakura. Besides'' she took Sasuke's hand in hers, showing the rings on their right hands ''I have my future husbando here to look after me, right?''

Sasuke coughed and looked to the other side, his cheeks red.

''Then let's do this'' Tsunade said

Sasuke took Hae Ra's body and put it on the hospital's bed.

''Let's leave her to her work'' Tsunade led him outside of the room

''Hey, darling'' Sakura called Hae Ra ''It's mommy again. Today is the 20th day without you here with us, mama is going to try something different for a change okay?'' she took Hae Ra's hand in hers.

Sakura focused on every single drop of Hinode chakra inside of her, tracing a way for them to the tips of her finger, where she touched Hae Ra's small hand. She felt the chakra flow from her fingers to Hae Ra's small body, and she prayed with all of her might, to all people from the Hinode clan who had passed away and whose powers were taken from them, to help her make this work

''Inochi no jutsu'' she whispered, continuing to focus.

Energy started to enter the window coming from where Yoake had died and encircle Sakura. It rounded her and ran through her arms to her fingertips in a green and blue light. There was a pulse of energy so strong coming from Sakura's body that it shook everything in a ray of 20 miles from her. Then all of that energy settled in Hae Ra's body.

A few moments passed and nothing happened. Sakura released her and brought both her hands to her face, crying.

Suddenly, she felt a warm touch on her hand, pulling it away from her face

''Mama?''

Sakura's eyes widened and she looked at her daughter with tearful eyes

''Hae Ra!'' she exclaimed

The little girl sat on the bed and hugged Sakura tightly

''I can't believe this!'' Sakura said ''You're alive!''

''Mama, I can't feel my system anymore, nor the program that once made me run… I'm… a real girl, mama!''

Sakura couldn't hide her surprise

''Does this mean… ?''

''I'll be able to stay with you, mama!'' tears started to run from Hae Ra's eyes too ''I can be with you and papa now!''

Sakura took her in her arms and hugged her again

''Sakura!'' Tsunade suddenly entered the room ''You have to see this!''

Two pairs of green eyes looked at her in confusion

''What happened?''

''You did it!'' Tsunade celebrated ''But it worked a little too well''

Sakura blinked

''What do you mean?''

.

''You mean to say _all those dolls_ became real children now?!'' Sakura exclaimed, horrified ''The purpose was to bring Hae Ra back to life, that's all!''

''Well, it happened'' Tsunade brought both hands to her ears ''And they won't stop crying so do something!''

Sakura rubbed her temples

''Put them all in the program''

''You mean KMP? Sakura, the purpose is to _prepare_ women to become mothers, not to _make_ them real mothers!''

''It's either that or open a big orphanage. Besides, what's a better way of becoming a good parent than _actually becoming_ a parent?''

Tsunade opened her mouth to retort, but found herself without words

''I guess you might be right''

.

.

.

On the following day, Sakura founded the Konoha Parents' Program, or KPP for short, a program in which people would be taught how to raise a child with dolls, and those who proved themselves capable to take good care of the children would be able to adopt a real child.

It seemed everyone wanted to adopt them, especially since they didn't have anywhere else to go, and after a few weeks all children were adopted, either by ninjas or by civilians.

''AKI-CHAN!''

Sasuke, who carried Hae Ra on his back, and Sakura turned to look at the person who was screaming and running down the streets to the market place.

''Naruto?'' Sakura called

''Oh, hey, Sakura-chan!'' he greeted, trying to catch his breath ''Have you seen a child around the age of 4 with red hair and dark eyes around?''

''Don't tell me…?''

''Yep, that's my girl! Aki-chan. She got some paint and painted all over the Hokage's monument, Tsunade obaa-chan is going mad!''

''Who's the mother, though?'' Sasuke inquired, raising an eyebrow.

''No one is! I'm a single father'' he declared, smiling widely ''This is harder than I thought! Can you believe she doesn't like to eat ramen?! She said she grew tired of it. I mean, it's ramen, how can someone grow used to it, right?!''

''Right?'' Sakura chuckled

''So…'' Naruto started ''Are your powers really gone now, Sakura-chan? You were such a badass this past year''

''They are'' She looked at Hae Ra ''But it was all worth it, in the end''

Naruto nodded

''Also, I think I've seen someone with those features you've described running that way''

''Oh! Thanks, Sakura-chan!'' Naruto screamed, already running in that direction

From behind one of the tents that sold fruit, a little girl approached them

''Thanks, Sakura onee-chan!'' the little girl said, rubbing the back of her neck. Even though she'd been with Naruto only for a few days, she already looked so much like him.

''Are you sure they are screening people before letting them adopt children?'' Sasuke asked, receiving a light punch on the shoulder

''Naruto will do fine! He can be really responsible when he wants to be''

''Except not'' Sasuke smiled ''We'll need to give him a few tips and tricks''

''Aunt Ino!'' Hae Ra screamed from Sasuke's back

Ino and Sai approached them holding hands, a small boy riding a small lion made of paint in front of them.

''Sakura! Sasuke-kun! Hae Ra-chan!'' Ino greeted them ''Let me introduce you to Sai and mine's son: Ren''

Sakura poked her friend

''I see things are going well between the two of you then'' she gave her a malicious look

Ino smirked

''Of course! Guess who are dating now?'' she pointed at her right hand, where there was a shining ring ''YES, SAI AND I!'' she exclaimed ''and I bet we are getting married before the two of you!''

''Is this a challenge?'' Sakura narrowed her eyes, smiling

Sasuke coughed, looking at Sai

''About locking you up…''

''It's alright. You thought I was Hae Ra's father and wasn't assuming her. An outrageous mistake and one only two fools like you and Naruto would make, but still, I understand'' Sai offered Sasuke a fake smile.

Sasuke wasn't sure how he should take those words, so he opted to let it go.

''I want a lion too, papa'' Hae Ra said, pointing at Ren's paint lion. The young boy hugged his lion protectively.

''How about a snake?'' Sasuke offered instead

''Snakes are ugly!''

''A hawk?''

''I want a paint lion!''

''A slug then?''

''PAINT LION!''

Sasuke sighed, then looked annoyed at Sai

''Look what you've done'' he accused, turning around and walking away ''Papa will find you an even nicer animal than that stupid paint lion, okay?''

Hae Ra crossed her arms, completely dissatisfied.

''I'll see you around, Ino pig!'' Sakura waved her goodbye, skipping to catch up with her family.

Family

That's what they had become

She brought a hand to her chest

 _Dad, thanks for this, for letting me live this moment. I owe to you more than I can ever say._

 _''_ Sakura?'' Sasuke called her ''We need to find a pet for this little girl over here, do you know of a place?''

She smiled

''I think it's time we pay someone a visit''

 _._

''Oh c'mon, Kakashi-sensei!'' Sakura begged ''it's just for a few days, she'll grow tired of it soon''

'' _Him''_

'' _Him''_ she corrected ''besides, Pakkun is an old dog, it's not like he's going to take part in any more battles anyway'' she tried to reason

''I don't know…'' Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck ''Pakkun doesn't really like children''

''You're our only hope, Kakashi'' Sasuke said, trying to calm Hae Ra down as she screamed saying she wanted a puppy.

Their sensei sighed

''Why don't you ask Kiba?

 _''Are you kidding me? My dogs aren't any dogs, they are trained to become powerful allies to the shinobi!''_

 _''Oh c'mon, Kiba!'' Sakura rolled her eyes ''We just need one puppy, it won't kill you''_

 _''No way, no dogs for you! Maybe when she's older''_

 _''Pleasseeeeeeeeee?''_

 _''Sakura, no''_

''He said no'' Sakura replied, simply

Kakashi rubbed his temples

''Fine, only for a week'' he bit his thumb and summoned Pakkun

''What is it, Kakashi?'' the dog asked with a monotonous face

''Puppy!'' Hae Ra exclaimed, trying to free herself from Sasuke's arms to go after the dog

''Oh no! A child!'' Pakkun said, alarmed, then ran around the house with Hae Ra right behind him.

''Don't worry, she'll grow tired of him by the end of this week'' Sakura assured her sensei

 _._

That night, after Hae Ra was asleep - holding Pakkun, who she didn't let go during the entire day -, Sasuke and Sakura opened a bottle of wine and sat on the couch.

''It's almost Christmas'' she said ''This was one hell of a year''

''Indeed it was'' he was playing with a lock of her hair, her back resting against his chest

''I wonder if things will calm down from now on''

''Things never calm down for us'' he rested his head on hers ''but at least we are in this together''

Sakura nodded

''And to think all of this happened because I stole a pair of shorts from you''

Sasuke chuckled

''You are such a stalker''

''Hey! It was for the greater good, okay?''

''Sure'' he took her hand in his, looking at their engagement rings

''What are you thinking about?''

''You''

Sakura blushed

''What do you mean?''

''You know, Sakura… when we met, I wasn't just unloved and unloving. I was an enemy of love. Love had only brought me pain. My walls were up, but you brought them down. You brought me home. You brought life into my life, and chased away all the darkness. And I vow to you: I will never forget the distance between who I was…'' he kissed the back of her hand ''and who I am''

Sakura turned around to look at him

''That was deep'' she smiled

''Don't ruin it''

She came closer to his face

''I love you, Sasuke-kun''

''Hn'' he leaned forward, kissing her lips gently

She knew what he meant by that, he was just too scared to voice his feelings. He'd lost everyone he'd ever loved, it would take some time for him to be able to express his feelings freely again, without any fear.

But Sakura would wait for him

She always would

''Let's go to bed'' he said, kissing the tip of her nose

''You go first, I'll just clean up this mess and I'll be right there''

Sasuke nodded

''I'll be waiting for you''

Sakura cleaned the living room where Hae Ra and Pakkun had been playing during the afternoon and looked at the portrait with a picture of the five of them: Sakura, Sasuke, Hae Ra, Kizashi and Mebuki. It seemed like it had been taken long ago. She smiled, they were a happy family, that they were.

Slowly, Sakura started to climb the stairs to the second floor. When she was halfway, though, she stopped and turned around.

A wyvern's roar could be heard from not too far away.

With a smile, she snapped her fingers, and the lights went out.

.

.

.

 _THE END_

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* * *

I don't know what you guys were expecting, but this is what I came up with hahahaha

I had given this story up back in January, and wasn't going to keep writing it, so it took me a big effort to finish it for you guys, I'm sorry if it's not as good as it had the potential to be, I'm still a very mediocre writer... I promise I did my best, and I hope you like how this turned out :3

For those who watched One Upon a Time, Sasuke's quote came from there. It's probably one of my favorite TV series and when I first heard Rumple saying it I was like ''THIS IS SO SASUSAKU'' so I had to use it on one of my fics hahahah So touching (,:

Thank you SO SO MUCH to 2 very important people: Caio, my best friend, and Lizzie223, who so kindly wrote me sweet reviews that brightened my days and made me glad I decided to finish this story, you two are the best S2 ! I hope this ending pleases you, Lizzie :3 Thank you a lot for all your support!

This is it, everyone! Thank you for reading this, I had a good time writing it :3

Big hugss!

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Blackfan Diamond


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